Antarctica Was Covered in Forests 50 Million Years Ago – Geologists
Antarctica has long captured the imagination of scientists and explorers. This harsh continent holds secrets beneath its kilometer-thick ice that humanity is yet to unravel. Beneath the icy surface lies an entire world – ancient, mysterious, and almost unreachable. This is reported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
The Ice Sheet and the Hidden Continent
Antarctica is not just an icy desert. Beneath a layer of ice two kilometers thick, and in some places four kilometers thick, lies a true continent with mountains, valleys, and ancient riverbeds.
Radar surveys have shown that structures comparable in scale to the Alps and the Rocky Mountains are hidden beneath the ice. This discovery confirmed that under the ice is not a lifeless plain, but a complex geological landscape that has been forming for millions of years.
“Beneath the Antarctic ice lies a full-fledged continent with its own mountain systems and depressions,” states a report from the British Antarctic Survey.
Such data changes our understanding of the southern continent’s structure and helps scientists comprehend how it formed and how it influences the climate of the entire planet. Research in this region resonates with how melting processes are being discovered beneath the Antarctic ice, altering our understanding of climate.
Subglacial Lakes – Worlds Without Light
One of the most astonishing facts associated with Antarctica is the existence of hundreds of subglacial lakes. To date, over four hundred are known, the most famous of which is Lake Vostok.
It has been isolated from the outside world for millions of years, and its temperature hovers around -3 degrees Celsius, yet the water does not freeze due to the pressure of the ice masses. In samples from the lake, researchers have found organic compounds – possible traces of life adapted to extreme conditions.
Scientists believe that studying such lakes could help us understand how life might have developed in similar conditions – for example, beneath the icy crust of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.
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