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Mattel’s New ‘Wicked: For Good’ Toys Give Us a Spoilery Glimpse at the ‘Wizard of Oz’ Crew

Mattel’s New ‘Wicked: For Good’ Toys Give Us a Spoilery Glimpse at the ‘Wizard of Oz’ Crew

Let us be glad; let us be grateful for these first looks at one tornado-swept girl and her yellow brick road pals in Wicked: For Good. That’s right, Wicked merch drop Wednesdays return for us Ozian fans, and this time give us clues as to Dorothy Gale’s look in Jon M. Chu’s fall sequel to Wicked, which will incorporate the Wizard of Oz arc we’ve all been waiting for. 

Some spoilers ahead, as some major plot twists can’t be avoided once you see more of the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and outfit reveals for Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda (Ariana Grande) as the Good Witch of Oz.

Let’s start with the shoes; they’re clearly no longer on Nessarose Thropp’s feet. That means we can assume the de facto Munchkinland mayor, who becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the East, has, er, been bodied by way of a Kansas shack to the face. The Mattel doll of Dorothy brings back the iconic blue checked dress and pigtail braids for the teen. And yet it still leaves us guessing who might be playing her.

Dorothy Doll Mattel Wicked For Good Final
© Mattel

Dorothy wears the shoes that once belonged to Nessarose and Elphaba’s mother and that may or may not have magical properties. As fans of the classic storybook lore as well as the MGM technicolor film starring Judy Garland, we know the shoes—now silver as originally described in L. Frank Baum’s works—are going to start an all-out war between the witches and the Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy Shoes Mattel Wicked For Good Final
© Mattel

Then there’s the most scandlocious of reveals in Wicked: For Good, one that musical fans are well aware of and have been holding in (you’re welcome). It’s a surprising plot twist that Dorothy’s friends are people we have already met and have a bone to pick with Elphaba too. After getting caught in the crossfire of Oz witch drama, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) and Boq (Ethan Slater) get turned into the Scarecrow and Tin Man, with the lion from part one having grown into the final member of the yellow brick road gang. And yes, Toto is there too.

Scarecrow Mattel Wicked For Good Final
© Mattel

Wicked: For Good feels so far away, but these toy releases are already getting us so excited to see how it’s all going to play out. Glinda and Elphaba also get new looks we’re already obsessed with. Glinda gets more ballgown moments, while Elphaba’s battle armor black ensemble gets a rugged and ripped look. Now we know what happened to that very, very long cape at the end of “Defying Gravity.”

Gelphie Mattel Wicked For Good Final
© Mattel

Take a look at the gallery below for additional looks at the Wicked: For Good cast through the last toy drop from Mattel.

 

Wicked: For Good opens November 21.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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#Mattels #Wicked #Good #Toys #Give #Spoilery #Glimpse #Wizard #Crew

plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km).

For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.”

These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.

To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.”

Continental divides

Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.

The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience.

Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D.

Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
                The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.

 To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

 “East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.

 The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.

 The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.

 The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.      #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics
The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience

All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.

The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves.

An icy situation

Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.

The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said.

That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.

#Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics">Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
                The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.

 To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

 “East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.

 The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.

 The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.

 The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.      #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics

down over 3 miles (4.9 km).

For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.”

These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.

To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.”

Continental divides

Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.

The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience.

Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D.

Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
                The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.

 To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

 “East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.

 The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.

 The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.

 The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.      #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics
The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience

All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.

The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves.

An icy situation

Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.

The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said.

That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.

#Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics">Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km).

For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.”

These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.

To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.”

Continental divides

Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.

The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience.

Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D.

Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
                The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.

 To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

 “East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.

 The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.

 The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.

 The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.      #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics
The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience

All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.

The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves.

An icy situation

Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.

The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said.

That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.

#Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics
Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Amnesty International warned that millions of fans attending the tournament are at risk of attacks on their human rights, especially in the United States. The organization added that the tournament, which will also be held in Mexico and Canada, could take place amid severe restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In a report titled “Humanity Must Win: Defending Rights, Tackling Repression at the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Amnesty outlines a range of risks faced by fans, players, locals, and media attending the tournament in its three host countries.

In the US, where three-quarters of the World Cup matches will be played, the report finds there is a “human rights emergency” characterized by racial profiling and mass detentions by agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“This World Cup is far from the ‘medium risk’ tournament that FIFA once judged it to be,” the organization wrote. “The joy that fans hope to experience over a six-week celebration of football is overshadowed by the reality of violent arrests, mass detention,” and other abuses.

Earlier this year, then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said ICE would be a “key part” of security during the World Cup. Since then, the extent of ICE’s role has not been fully clarified. But in May, Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News that ICE is offering its personnel to local police departments to help with security during World Cup matches.

Amnesty International’s report indicates that in Mexico federal authorities have announced the deployment of around 100,000 security agents, including members of the army, in response to high levels of violence. According to Amnesty, this decision increases the risk for those demonstrating, including a movement of searching mothers who have planned peaceful protests in the vicinity of the Banorte Stadium (formerly Azteca Stadium) in Mexico City to demand transparency, justice, and reparations for the 133,500 disappearances registered in the country. This initiative is expected to be joined by other mobilizations during the tournament, linked to access to land, water, housing, and criticism of gentrification.

In Canada, the report notes, there are fears that the country’s housing woes will lead to unhoused populations in host cities like Toronto being displaced by World Cup activities.

When Amnesty released its report in March, the organization claimed only four of the 16 host cities had published plans for the protection of human rights during the tournament. It recommended that host cities avoid the use of military forces in civilian security tasks and stressed that local authorities should ensure that World Cup events and venues were not subject to immigration raids.

This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.

#Amnesty #International #Warns #World #Cup #Fans #Face #Potential #Human #Rights #Violationssports,world cup 2026,security,immigration">Amnesty International Warns That World Cup Fans Face Potential Human Rights ViolationsAhead of this year’s World Cup, Amnesty International warned that millions of fans attending the tournament are at risk of attacks on their human rights, especially in the United States. The organization added that the tournament, which will also be held in Mexico and Canada, could take place amid severe restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.In a report titled “Humanity Must Win: Defending Rights, Tackling Repression at the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Amnesty outlines a range of risks faced by fans, players, locals, and media attending the tournament in its three host countries.In the US, where three-quarters of the World Cup matches will be played, the report finds there is a “human rights emergency” characterized by racial profiling and mass detentions by agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).“This World Cup is far from the ‘medium risk’ tournament that FIFA once judged it to be,” the organization wrote. “The joy that fans hope to experience over a six-week celebration of football is overshadowed by the reality of violent arrests, mass detention,” and other abuses.Earlier this year, then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said ICE would be a “key part” of security during the World Cup. Since then, the extent of ICE’s role has not been fully clarified. But in May, Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News that ICE is offering its personnel to local police departments to help with security during World Cup matches.Amnesty International’s report indicates that in Mexico federal authorities have announced the deployment of around 100,000 security agents, including members of the army, in response to high levels of violence. According to Amnesty, this decision increases the risk for those demonstrating, including a movement of searching mothers who have planned peaceful protests in the vicinity of the Banorte Stadium (formerly Azteca Stadium) in Mexico City to demand transparency, justice, and reparations for the 133,500 disappearances registered in the country. This initiative is expected to be joined by other mobilizations during the tournament, linked to access to land, water, housing, and criticism of gentrification.In Canada, the report notes, there are fears that the country’s housing woes will lead to unhoused populations in host cities like Toronto being displaced by World Cup activities.When Amnesty released its report in March, the organization claimed only four of the 16 host cities had published plans for the protection of human rights during the tournament. It recommended that host cities avoid the use of military forces in civilian security tasks and stressed that local authorities should ensure that World Cup events and venues were not subject to immigration raids.This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.#Amnesty #International #Warns #World #Cup #Fans #Face #Potential #Human #Rights #Violationssports,world cup 2026,security,immigration

World Cup, Amnesty International warned that millions of fans attending the tournament are at risk of attacks on their human rights, especially in the United States. The organization added that the tournament, which will also be held in Mexico and Canada, could take place amid severe restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In a report titled “Humanity Must Win: Defending Rights, Tackling Repression at the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Amnesty outlines a range of risks faced by fans, players, locals, and media attending the tournament in its three host countries.

In the US, where three-quarters of the World Cup matches will be played, the report finds there is a “human rights emergency” characterized by racial profiling and mass detentions by agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“This World Cup is far from the ‘medium risk’ tournament that FIFA once judged it to be,” the organization wrote. “The joy that fans hope to experience over a six-week celebration of football is overshadowed by the reality of violent arrests, mass detention,” and other abuses.

Earlier this year, then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said ICE would be a “key part” of security during the World Cup. Since then, the extent of ICE’s role has not been fully clarified. But in May, Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News that ICE is offering its personnel to local police departments to help with security during World Cup matches.

Amnesty International’s report indicates that in Mexico federal authorities have announced the deployment of around 100,000 security agents, including members of the army, in response to high levels of violence. According to Amnesty, this decision increases the risk for those demonstrating, including a movement of searching mothers who have planned peaceful protests in the vicinity of the Banorte Stadium (formerly Azteca Stadium) in Mexico City to demand transparency, justice, and reparations for the 133,500 disappearances registered in the country. This initiative is expected to be joined by other mobilizations during the tournament, linked to access to land, water, housing, and criticism of gentrification.

In Canada, the report notes, there are fears that the country’s housing woes will lead to unhoused populations in host cities like Toronto being displaced by World Cup activities.

When Amnesty released its report in March, the organization claimed only four of the 16 host cities had published plans for the protection of human rights during the tournament. It recommended that host cities avoid the use of military forces in civilian security tasks and stressed that local authorities should ensure that World Cup events and venues were not subject to immigration raids.

This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.

#Amnesty #International #Warns #World #Cup #Fans #Face #Potential #Human #Rights #Violationssports,world cup 2026,security,immigration">Amnesty International Warns That World Cup Fans Face Potential Human Rights Violations

Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Amnesty International warned that millions of fans attending the tournament are at risk of attacks on their human rights, especially in the United States. The organization added that the tournament, which will also be held in Mexico and Canada, could take place amid severe restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In a report titled “Humanity Must Win: Defending Rights, Tackling Repression at the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Amnesty outlines a range of risks faced by fans, players, locals, and media attending the tournament in its three host countries.

In the US, where three-quarters of the World Cup matches will be played, the report finds there is a “human rights emergency” characterized by racial profiling and mass detentions by agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“This World Cup is far from the ‘medium risk’ tournament that FIFA once judged it to be,” the organization wrote. “The joy that fans hope to experience over a six-week celebration of football is overshadowed by the reality of violent arrests, mass detention,” and other abuses.

Earlier this year, then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said ICE would be a “key part” of security during the World Cup. Since then, the extent of ICE’s role has not been fully clarified. But in May, Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News that ICE is offering its personnel to local police departments to help with security during World Cup matches.

Amnesty International’s report indicates that in Mexico federal authorities have announced the deployment of around 100,000 security agents, including members of the army, in response to high levels of violence. According to Amnesty, this decision increases the risk for those demonstrating, including a movement of searching mothers who have planned peaceful protests in the vicinity of the Banorte Stadium (formerly Azteca Stadium) in Mexico City to demand transparency, justice, and reparations for the 133,500 disappearances registered in the country. This initiative is expected to be joined by other mobilizations during the tournament, linked to access to land, water, housing, and criticism of gentrification.

In Canada, the report notes, there are fears that the country’s housing woes will lead to unhoused populations in host cities like Toronto being displaced by World Cup activities.

When Amnesty released its report in March, the organization claimed only four of the 16 host cities had published plans for the protection of human rights during the tournament. It recommended that host cities avoid the use of military forces in civilian security tasks and stressed that local authorities should ensure that World Cup events and venues were not subject to immigration raids.

This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.

#Amnesty #International #Warns #World #Cup #Fans #Face #Potential #Human #Rights #Violationssports,world cup 2026,security,immigration

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