Researchers have put forward a new contender for the title of North America’s deepest valley; This one is hidden inside a glacier.
Hell’s Canyon, now on the Oregon-Idaho border, is considered the deepest valley in North America; It extends 2,412 meters from the summit to the bedrock. But now scientists believe they have found a new contender for the title of North America’s “deepest valley”; IFLScience writes that it has been hiding inside the glacier all this time.
He is believed to be the new record holder for diving thousands of meters through ice on Alaska’s Ruth Glacier. Also known as the Great Passage, this place is impressively large and features a massive ice corridor. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to measure, but in a new study, scientists managed to overcome this situation.
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According to the researchers, the pass stretches 2,465 meters from the top of the rocky peak to its bottom, or a depth of plus or minus 65 meters in either direction. These parameters allow the Grand Gorge to be as deep as Hell’s Canyon, and possibly larger.
The study authors note that their estimates are twice as high as what global models predict. Exploring passages is no easy task, especially if they are narrow and extend for thousands of meters. Moreover, the gorge is covered in ice, and so obtaining accurate measurements of the Great Gorge’s depth has long eluded scientists.
The new study is actually the result of nearly 90 years of speculation about the depth of the valley. Bradfort first became interested in Washburn depth in 1937, but how deep it actually was was still a mystery. Scientists have been trying to analyze the valley for decades using radar and seismic surveys. The last assessment in 1992 suggested that the depth of the valley was 2.7 kilometers based on the ice removed. Such results would make the Great Gorge a record holder in North America, but later scientists doubted the accuracy of the data.
In a new study, scientists decided to put an end to the guesswork. The team traveled to Ruth Glacier to measure the thickness of the ice in detail and determine the depth of the valley. Scientists used an ice-penetrating radar system pulled by a snowmobile to map the glacier bed above the valley, but the valley’s complex geometry made it a challenging target.
As a result, scientists were able to estimate the thickness of the ice in the valley by combining data from higher parts of the glacier and deeper, disruptive weather measurements provided by NASA. Researchers believe that the ice depth along the centerline of the glacier in the valley ranges from 610 to 960 meters, with a total depth of approximately 2,465 meters.
If the team’s results are correct, the Great Passage is indeed the deepest strait on the continent.
Focus has previously written about why Everest is so high: Scientists believe “piracy” is involved.
Source: Focus
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