Palaeontology
Secrets of Antarctica's fossilised forests
By
T.K. RandallFebruary 10, 2011 ·
16 comments
Image Credit: Calee Allen / NOAA
We tend to think of Antarctica as a frozen mass but science is showing that it wasn't always so.
First discovered nearly 100 years ago by explorer Robert Falcon Scott sedimentary layers beneath the ice covering Antarctica prove that it hasn't always been a virtually solid block of ice. Fossilised leaves and twigs show that there were once forests covering that part of the planet, some wonder if global warming won't revive these long forgotten forests.
It may be hard to believe, but Antarctica was once covered in towering forests. One hundred million years ago, the Earth was in the grip of an extreme Greenhouse Effect. The polar ice caps had all but melted; in the south, rainforests inhabited by dinosaurs existed in their place. These Antarctic ecosystems were adapted to the long months of winter darkness that occur at the poles, and were truly bizarre.
Source:
BBC News |
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