As Ice Recedes and Land Rebounds, Antarctica’s Mineral Resources Come into Focus

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By Grace van Deelen, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: A warming climate could expose a Pennsylvania-sized chunk of ice-free land in Antarctica by 2300, which could drastically reshape Antarctic geopolitics as well as the continent’s geography. A study published in Nature Climate Change is the first to incorporate glacial isostatic adjustment—how land beneath heavy ice sheets uplifts after the ice retreats—into projections of ice-free land emergence in Antarctica. ...Within the area that Lucas and the research team projected would be ice-free by 2300 lie known or suspected deposits of copper, gold, silver, iron, and platinum—critical minerals used in manufacturing and valuable metals in and of themselves. In particular, the study found the largest land emergence in Antarctica is likely to occur over territories claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom and contains a range of mineral deposits, including copper, gold, silver, and iron. ...Currently, commercial mineral extraction is not allowed in Antarctica, though the Antarctic Treaty does allow for activities related to mineral resources if they are conducted strictly for scientific purposes.... 

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