Has The Location Of Atlantis Just Been Discovered?

A couple of times each year, there is a story about discovering Atlantis - the lost 'mythical' city, or island, which is believed to have sunk hundreds of years ago, but remains a point of fascination for many.

The question of its existence has remained unanswered, it's location faces similar uncertainty.

The initial placement of Atlantis, as mentioned in the work of Greek philosopher Plato, was situated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Since then, many theorists have switched it to the other side of the Americas and placed it in both the Indian or Pacific Ocean.

Credit: PA

Now some scientists think that they've found Atlantis, and it's underneath Antarctica. They've discovered a series of gigantic structures buried underneath this South Pole ice cap.

The unknown 'landmasses' are frozen beneath a surface that's about half a mile thick and some are as big as the Eiffel Tower (300m).

Credit: Universite libre de Bruxelle

The structure, standing at 490ft by 130ft, is made from a mixture of mud and sandstone.

A team from the Universite libre de Bruxelle (University of Brussels, Belgium) said the structures in the Antarctic were evidence of 'water conduits and sediment ridges below the Antarctic ice sheet'.

Essentially, this means there is a large network of tunnels and ridges frozen under the ice. It's believed these natural formations contribute to the stability of the ice cap.

The gigantic landmasses 'carve deep incisions at the bottom of the ice' creating 'scars' - the experts say.

These small marks are the beginnings of wider channels which grow the closer the ice moves to the sea.

In places where the ice is floating above the ocean, the thin ice is a weak spot when exposed to melting from the warmer water beneath.

These channels, if understood, may help to predict the effect of climate change on the ice caps.

Or, of course, it could be Atlantis.