Hot zone under Antarctica

This is another update on geothermal activity under the ice in Antarctica.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1919803-surprising-hot-zone-detected-under-antarctica/

One of the more interesting parts of the article is this:

The most interesting finding, Lloyd says, is the discovery of a hot zone beneath the Bentley Subglacial Trench.

The basin is part of the West Antarctic Rift System, a series of rifts, adjacent to the Transantarctic Mountains, along which the continent was stretched and thinned.

The topography of West Antarctica below the ice sheet as viewed from above, looking toward the Antarctic Peninsula. Much of West Antarctica is a basin that lies below sea level (blue), although it is currently filled with ice, not water. West Antarctica was stretched and thinned as it moved away from East Antarctica, forming one of the world’s largest continental rift systems. (Credit: Bedmap Consortium)

The old rock of East Antarctica rises well above sea level, but west of the Transantarctic Mountains, extension has pulled the crust into a broad saddle, or rift valley, much of which lies a kilometer below sea level.

“If you removed the ice, West Antarctica would rebound, and most of it would be near sea level. But the narrower and deeper basins might remain below it,” Lloyd says. “The Bentley Subglacial Trench, which is the lowest point on Earth not covered by an ocean, would still be a kilometer and a half below sea level if the ice were removed.”