Revealing many secrets: Amber, 90 million years old, has been discovered in Antarctica for the first time.
The presence of amber in Antarctica proves that during the mid-Cretaceous period, temperate tropical forests thrived on every continent. This new discovery fills a significant gap in the global map of amber finds: for the first time, it has been discovered in Antarctica, reports Interesting Engineering, as noted by UNN.
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This finding, conducted by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, provides a rare glimpse into the prehistoric environment of Antarctica. It reveals that lush swampy forests and resin-producing trees once flourished in what is now an icy realm.
The study estimates that the age of the "amber from Pine Island" is approximately 90 million years.
The amber extracted from Pine Island Bay represents a unique snapshot of life in prehistoric Antarctica. The research team, led by Dr. Johann P. Klages and Dr. Henny Gerschel, utilized the MARUM-MeBo70 drilling rig to retrieve sediment cores from nearly a kilometer deep.
Although small, with each fragment measuring about a millimeter in diameter, the pieces of amber were rich in valuable information, including micro-inclusions that likely contained ancient tree bark.
The scientists noted that this was once a green continent, vastly different from today’s frozen landscape.
The researchers discovered evidence of pathological resin flow, a protective mechanism that trees use to defend against injuries, infections, or wildfires. This amber preserved traces of resin produced by the trees as a protective barrier, indicating that the forest was either burned or destroyed by parasites.
Moreover, the solid, transparent, and largely undamaged quality of the amber suggests that it was buried close to the Earth's surface rather than deep underground, where heat and pressure would likely have destroyed it.
The discovery of amber from Pine Island is not just an exciting find; it is a significant piece of the geological and ecological puzzle that reconstructs the history of Earth's climate. The presence of amber in Antarctica adds further evidence that temperate tropical forests existed on every continent during the mid-Cretaceous period.
This Antarctic amber discovery opens a unique window into an era when lush forests extended southward into polar regions, supporting a much warmer global climate.
As scientists continue to study these ancient amber fragments, they hope to unveil new secrets of the past: from the diversity of forest life to specific events such as fires or insect invasions that shaped the landscape.