To expand on this - we are told the operation was abandoned because of shifting ice and instability. Absolutely fair. Plausible. Expected even.

Why not go under the ice?

Places that have zero population fascinate me. Massive amounts of uninhabited land. The majority of Canada, like Baffin Island and others. Most of the NT is vast and empty. Hell, most of the western states are majority BLM land. Besides hunters and hikers, its just massive areas of wilderness and old logging and access roads.

Okay so ice deserts. Antarctica is suspicious as fuck but we all know that.

What about sand deserts? Taklamakan especially is fascinating because of the ruins and nuclear glass. The Sahara. What's beneath all this sand? I dont believe these deserts are formed the way they are said to.