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An international research team led by the University of Genoa has identified a vast fan-shaped system of subglacial basins beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, formed by rotational extension of the continental crust. Published in Nature Geoscience, the discovery connects previously studied features like the Wilkes Basin, Aurora Basin, and Lake Vostok into a single coherent tectonic structure — one of the largest examples of rotational extension ever documented — with implications for understanding ice sheet stability and future sea-level rise.