Ancient Fossilized Rainforest Uncovered in Antarctica

Ancient Fossilized Rainforest Uncovered in Antarctica
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A team of paleontologists and geologists from around the world has discovered a fossilized rainforest with amazingly preserved roots, pollen, and other fossilized vegetal material that are approximately 90-million-year-old in West Antarctica.

An Eventful Era

The newly discovered Rainforest dating back to the mid-Cretaceous period is one of the most impressive findings of the year for a set of reasons.

First of all, the mid-Cretaceous period saw the pinnacle of dinosaurs. Still, climate was also at the warmest point it was over the past 140 million years, with temperatures in the tropics reaching as high as 35 degrees Celsius.

Also, sea level was about 170 meters higher than it currently is.

Professor Tina van de Flierdt, a researcher in the Department of Earth Science & Engineering at Imperial College London, is pleased by the discovery. However, she is surprised by the information that resulted from the fossils’ analysis:

“Even during months of darkness, swampy temperate rainforests were able to grow close to the South Pole, revealing an even warmer climate than we expected.”

The Discovery

The researchers stumbled upon a fragment of fossilized sediment which attracted their attention due to its peculiar color, according to Dr. Johann Klages, a geologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research:

“During the initial shipboard assessments, the unusual coloration of the sediment layer quickly caught our attention; it differed from the layers above it.”

The team then CT-scanned the core section. The results were more than surprising – A network of fossil roots that spanned 3 meters in length was discovered. It was preserved so well that individual cell structures were detected and analyzed.

The elevated sample contained numerous bits of pollen and spores from plants, including remnants of some of the first flowering plants ever discovered in the area.


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Anna is an avid blogger with an educational background in medicine and mental health. She is a generalist with many other interests including nutrition, women's health, astronomy and photography. In her free time from work and writing, Anna enjoys nature walks, reading, and listening to jazz and classical music.

2 thoughts on “Ancient Fossilized Rainforest Uncovered in Antarctica

  1. Or that that land mas was in that location during that time period and had not moved from it’s original location maybe many times.

    Reply

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