Why should Catholics care about what lies buried under Antarctica’s vast ice sheets? Because within this newly revealed, ancient landscape lies a reminder of God’s order, the delicacy of His creation, and our role as stewards of the Earth. Scientists have discovered an untouched subglacial world in East Antarctica that has remained preserved for over 34 million years—a pristine terrain shaped by rivers and untouched by human hands, “like uncovering a time capsule,” said lead researcher Stewart Jamieson of Durham University.
The discovery, reported in Nature Communications and made possible through Canadian RADARSAT satellite data and radio-echo sounding surveys, uncovered “an ancient river-carved terrain about the size of Wales, locked under nearly two kilometers of ice,” according to the team. This land was once part of Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent that included Africa, South America, and Australia. Far from the lifeless icy wasteland we know today, the Antarctica of old was alive with forests, flowing rivers, and perhaps even dinosaurs. The transformation began around 34 million years ago during the Eocene-Oligocene transition, when falling CO₂ levels and global temperatures marked the beginning of glaciation.
This revelation invites us to reflect on more than geology. It invites contemplation of God’s creative power and the narrative of creation, fall, and redemption played out not just in Scripture but across the very crust of the Earth. “The implication is that this must be a very old landscape carved by rivers before the ice sheet itself grew,” Jamieson told Nature Communications, reinforcing the idea that this is a preserved glimpse into a world long past.
How does this connect with our faith? This preserved landscape is more than a curiosity—it is a sign of the resilience and fragility of creation. It reveals how entire ecosystems can be hidden but not destroyed, and how even the most forgotten corners of the earth remain part of God’s design. As Catholics, we are called to be caretakers of creation. Pope Francis, in Laudato Si’, reminds us that “everything is interconnected.” When we look at Antarctica’s ice sheets—still changing and retreating in the face of rising global temperatures—we see not just melting glaciers, but a warning. The same ancient forces that shaped the world are being disturbed by human action.
The RADARSAT-2 satellite and airborne surveys from ICECAP helped researchers track how Antarctica’s topography formed through fluvial erosion long before the ice came. According to the researchers, “these fluctuations left lasting imprints on the subglacial landscape,” and those imprints now inform how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) might respond to modern climate changes. “Understanding how this massive sheet might respond to human-driven climate change is a pressing concern,” Jamieson emphasized.
What can we do with this knowledge? We must see it as both a gift and a responsibility. This scientific milestone connects us not only to the planet’s past but also to its uncertain future. The EAIS contains vulnerable marine-based sectors, like the Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basins, that could contribute significantly to global sea-level rise if they continue to retreat. The research reminds us that what we do today—our energy choices, our care for creation, and our policies—impacts generations far beyond us.
This hidden world beneath Antarctica, once alive with rivers and forests, is a message preserved in ice: that nothing in creation is wasted in God’s plan, and that we are stewards of a masterpiece far older and more delicate than we imagine. As Psalm 24 proclaims, “The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” To honor that truth is to embrace both the wonder and weight of that responsibility.
