Last uncharted Earth areas to be explored

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- U.S., U.K. and Australian scientists will explore two of the last uncharted regions of Earth: the Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basins in Antarctica.

The basins are immense ice-buried lowlands in Antarctica with a combined area the size of Mexico. The researchers say their findings could show how Earth's climate changed in the past and how future climate change will affect global sea level.

The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences, along with the University of Edinburgh and the Australian Antarctic Division as part of a major International Polar Year project to study the vast area using multiple airborne instruments.

Beginning this December, the research team will fly an upgraded DC-3 aircraft with a suite of geophysical instruments to map the thickness of the ice sheet and measure the texture, composition, density and topography of rocks below the ice. The upgraded DC-3 will provide the scientists with a combination of fuel efficiency and range.

The scientists say data from the project will help model East Antarctic ice stability, forecast how ice might react to climate change and show its potential impact on global sea level.