'Pyramid like' mountain discovered sitting beneath ice in Antarctica

Even if geography isn't your thing, you probably know that Antarctica is the continent that's covered in ice, and is pretty uninhabitable to the average human. So why are there rumours circulating that a pyramid has been found there?

Last I checked, penguins weren't particularly skilled architects - unless that's just a talent they've been hiding from us. So if it's not penguins that built this 'pyramid', then where has it come from?

That's a question that a lot of people have been asking since a huge, pyramid-shaped mass was spotted in satellite images taken over the southern part of Antartica’s Ellsworth Mountain range.

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A number of bizarre peaks were spotted in the area, with one in particular measuring 2 kilometers square in each direction at its base - a design not dissimilar to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Naturally the discovery of this massive object sent the internet into a frenzy, especially given the aforementioned fact that, as far as we know, humans don't tend to hang out in Antarctica for long, given its freezing temperatures.

After images of the pyramids resurfaced this week, people began to share their theories for the structures.

Everyone has their own ideas, with one Twitter user suggesting: "This structure belongs to the civilization which existed before the flood. Around 10,000 years ago Antartica was warm."

Another commented: "illuminati confirmed."

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Before you go too far down the rabbit hole of potential pyramid-building snowmen, it's worth noting that scientists have previously discovered signs of plant life in Antarctica which indicated the landscape was once covered in rainforest, with an average temperature of about 55°F (12°C).

Admittedly, this was about 83 million years ago, but it would make the landscape more liveable for anyone who set themselves the challenge of building a pyramid.

However - there is another explanation for the pyramid, and that's that it's not a pyramid at all.

After rumours and claims about the structure began to circulate, Irvine geology professor Eric Rignot spoke with LiveScience to get to the truth of the matter.

Though the image definitely appears to show a pyramid, Rignot explained: "This is just a mountain that looks like a pyramid."

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It turns out the 'pyramid' is actually a feature of glaciated areas known as a 'pyramidal peaked mountain'. They're formed from the convergence of glaciers on the sides of an existing landmass.

Rignot, a professor of Earth system science at the University of California, continued: “Pyramid shapes are not impossible — many peaks partially look like pyramids, but they only have one to two faces like that, rarely four.”

There are some other pyramid-shaped mountains out there to support this point, including Mount Búlandstindur in Iceland, and Bordoyarnes Mountain on the Faroe Islands.

So there you have it - it's not penguins, snowmen or even aliens, it's just a funny mountain.