Where are the ghost mountains?
In Antarctica. It is the nickname for the 1,200km-long Gamburtsev mountain range on the icy continent. It is named so because it is buried under four kilometres of snow. It was discovered when ice penetrating radar equipment was used.
It was discovered in 1958 by Soviet geophysicist Grigoriy A. Gamburtsev. In 2008-2009, a multinational team of experts embarked on a mission called the AGAP (Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province) to map the sub-glacial range. Aircraft loaded with remote-sensing equipment criss-crossed the area, flying 120,000km, that is about three trips around the globe! It collected data about the ice thickness and radar images of the rock bed and conducted gravity and magnetic surveys. The findings revealed a jagged landscape not unlike the Alps of Europe. The project explored 20% of the East Antarctic ice sheet.
It is yet not known how the mountain was formed, but it is estimated to be several million years old.
