The vast Greenland ice sheet holds a secret: an abandoned city buried beneath the ice. Discovered during a routine aerial survey in April 2024, this isn’t some ancient civilization lost to time, but Camp Century, a U.S. military base constructed beneath the ice in 1959. The team’s radar spotted an anomaly – Camp Century – emerging as a distinct signal within the desolate landscape. “We were mapping the ice bed and suddenly, Camp Century appeared,” explained Alex Gardner, a cryospheric scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Initially, we were puzzled by its presence.”
A Cold War Outpost Under Ice
Camp Century was a feat of engineering, built in one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. Temperatures plummeted to -70° Fahrenheit (-57° Celsius), and winds often raged at over 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour). Despite these challenges, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created a sprawling complex capable of housing 200 soldiers.
A tunnel in Camp Century in 1966.A tunnel within Camp Century in 1966. Photo: National Archives
Abandoned in 1967, Camp Century has been slowly buried by accumulating snow and ice. Over 100 feet (30 meters) now covers the site, encasing the base and its remnants, including 47,000 gallons of radioactive waste from its nuclear reactor, as documented by the Atomic Heritage Foundation.
A Legacy of Scientific Discovery
Although abandoned for over half a century, Camp Century continues to contribute to scientific understanding. Soil cores extracted during its operation are still being analyzed today using modern techniques. These cores provide valuable insights into Earth’s ancient climate, revealing a Greenland that was once a vibrant ecosystem teeming with life, from mastodons to horseshoe crabs, pine forests, and geese. These glimpses into the past inform climate models and help scientists predict future climate scenarios.
Unveiled by Advanced Radar Technology
While previous surveys had detected Camp Century, the April flyby utilized NASA’s advanced Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR). The team wasn’t searching for the lost base; their mission focused on mapping the ice sheet’s internal layers and the interface between the ice and the bedrock nearly a mile below. “The new data reveals the individual structures of Camp Century with unprecedented clarity,” noted Chad Greene, another cryospheric scientist at JPL.
Radar Imaging: Unveiling Hidden Worlds
The discovery of Camp Century echoes the use of remote sensing technologies in archaeology. Similar techniques, like lidar, are employed to uncover lost cities hidden beneath dense rainforest canopies. Earlier this year, archaeologists used lidar to reveal thousands of Maya structures in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. The Greenland survey, utilizing radar’s ability to penetrate ice, employed a similar principle, albeit with radio waves instead of laser light. While the radar image accurately locates Camp Century, it does create some visual distortions. For example, the ice bed (depicted as a thin green line) appears above the camp in the image, even though it lies a mile beneath it.
A Cold War Relic and Climate Concerns
The successful UAVSAR test inadvertently unearthed a Cold War relic. While concerns exist about the potential for melting ice to expose the camp and its hazardous waste, including radioactive and biological materials, the discovery serves as a curious reminder of a hidden chapter in military history.
Conclusion
Camp Century, once a hidden Cold War outpost, has resurfaced as a point of scientific interest and a reminder of human impact on the environment. While its rediscovery highlights the power of advanced radar technology, it also underscores the potential consequences of climate change and the importance of responsible waste management. The city under the ice, once lost, now offers valuable insights into Earth’s past and a cautionary tale for the future.
