(Photo of the crater from the AWI Polar 6 aircraft. Credit: Alfred-Wegener-Institut)

Scientists with the German-based Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) made an interesting discovery on Dec. 20, 2014 while doing research in Antarctica on the supercontinent Gondwana.

Photo of the crater from the AWI Polar 6 aircraft. Credit: Alfred-Wegener-Institut

While surveying the eastern part of Antarctica by air, they spotted a nearly two-mile-wide crater in the frozen landscape. Two days after the discovery, they went back to take radar and altimeter measurements of the feature, .

Initial speculation was that the crater could have been caused by a meteorite impact. However, the AWI report says that glaciologistDoug MacAyeal from the University of Chicago came up with another theory: an ice doline.

, ice dolines form when cavities in glaciers or ice sheets cave in. He said this is similar to how sinkholes can form over caves in areas where limestone is present. Ice dolines have been spotted in the Antarctic Peninsula and in Greenland since the 1930s, Eisen said.

Additional research will ultimately be needed to find out the exact cause of the crater. AWI scientists will continue to study the data they gathered in the coming months to try and figure out what created the depression. In addition, the AWI news release says that Belgian glaciologist Jan Lenaerts is planning a ground expedition to the crater at the end of 2015.

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(Alex Cornell/www.alexcornell.com)