古代大陆分裂如何最终促成南极冰盖的形成

Mantle waves and tectonic stretching lofted polar mountains into a deep freeze PAUL VOOSEN W hen Antarctica split from Africa during the breakup of the Gond- wana supercontinent 160 million years ago, the rift did more than separate continents. Ac- cording to a study published today in Science (p. 55), it may have also triggered slow-motion upheaval in the planet’s interior that eventually raised mountains in East Antarc- tica. That uplift, in turn, could explain a long-standing mystery: How did Antarctica’s massive ice sheet begin to form? tive plate boundaries, including enigmatic volcanic eruptions and elevated plateaus in continental interiors. Now, they have harnessed it to explain the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s puzzling origins. …