Antarctica once covered in palm trees, scientists discover - Polidicks

[img]http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/Antarctica%20tropical%20paradise.jpg[/img] [quote] Today the frozen Antarctic ice sheet borders the Southern Ocean. But tropical palm trees once flourished there. An intense warming phase occurred 52 million years ago, leading tropical vegetation, including palms and relatives of today's tropical Baobab trees, to grow on the continent’s now frozen coasts. The surprising discovery came from a study of drill cores obtained from the seafloor near Antarctica. The results, published in the journal Nature, show that warm ocean currents and high carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the air boosted temperatures, allowing tropical vegetation to grow where visitors today meet only icebergs and freezing cold. "The CO2 content of the atmosphere as assumed for that time interval is not enough on its own to explain the almost tropical conditions in the Antarctic," said Jörg Pross, a paleoclimatologist at the Goethe University and member of the Biodiversity and Climate Research Center in Frankfurt, Germany. "Another important factor was the transfer of heat via warm ocean currents that reached Antarctica." When the warm ocean current collapsed and the Antarctic coast came under the influence of cooler ocean currents, the tropical rainforests, palm trees and Baobab relatives also disappeared. The scientists used rock samples from drill cores on the seabed obtained off the coast of Wilkes Land, Antarctica, as part of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The samples are between 53 and 46 million years old and contain fossil pollen and spores that are known to originate from the Antarctic coastal region. The researchers were thus able to reconstruct the local vegetation on Antarctica and, accordingly, interpret the presence of tropical and subtropical rainforests covering the coastal region 52 million years ago. The scientists' evaluations show that the winter temperatures on the Wilkes Land coast were warmer than 50 degrees Fahrenheit at that time, despite three months of polar night. The continental interior, however, was noticeably cooler, with the climate supporting the growth of temperate rainforests characterized by southern beech and Araucaria trees of the type common in New Zealand today. Additional evidence of extremely mild temperatures was provided by analysis of organic compounds that were produced by soil bacteria populating the soils along the Antarctic coast. "By studying naturally occurring climate warming periods in the geological past, our knowledge of the mechanisms and processes in the climate system increases," Pross said. Read more: [url]http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/02/antarctica-once-covered-in-palm-trees-scientists-discover/#ixzz22PNaYVch[/url] [/quote] Pretty cool if you ask me

Now, thats pretty chill

I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..

[QUOTE=Persecution;37051839]I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..[/QUOTE] Mitt Romney's gay loving Alter Ego

[QUOTE=shian;37051869]Mitt Romney's gay loving Alter Ego[/QUOTE] Or his tax returns

[QUOTE=Persecution;37051839]I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..[/QUOTE] Not much there really; just some tree fossils, penguin bones, Predator temple, city of the Elder Things, nothing special.

Is that a snow pyramid in the op? That's pretty cool.

I already knew this, there's evidence of Dinosaurs that lived there. /nerd

[QUOTE=Persecution;37051839]I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..[/QUOTE] osama

[QUOTE=ironman17;37051909]Not much there really; just some tree fossils, penguin bones, Predator temple, city of the Elder Things, nothing special.[/QUOTE] Alien Spacecraft with assimilating parasites on them

Motherfucking Megatron.

This is actually incredibly late, known this for a couple years now.

It's clearly the other Stargate down there.

[QUOTE=alien_guy;37052063]Motherfucking Megatron.[/QUOTE] Didn't he crash in the north pole or what

Alien pyramid communicating with the illuminati operating under the snowcaps in antarctica

[QUOTE=Persecution;37051839]I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..[/QUOTE] Fucking alien base full of fucking Chryssalids and Snakemen. Also, a large underground hollow with a huge alien in it. Don't touch it - seriously don't touch that last one.

big foot...

What if the Earth has this cycle where all the warm areas will be frozen over, while the cold parts will become tropical. And they wouldn't tell us before it happened, there's too many to evacuate.

So, the weather is pretty much like the Northwestern United States. Other than the three months of night. That would actually be pretty cool. [editline]2nd August 2012[/editline] Probably not really though.

First Shogoths and Elder Things. Now this. Antarctica is weird.

Anyone who saw Walking with DInosaurs from the goddamn 90's knew this. They had a whole episode dedicated to the poles.

[QUOTE=Persecution;37051839]I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..[/QUOTE] The Old Ones, Shuggoths, maybe a Thing or two. [editline]3rd August 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Mr. N;37060485]First Shogoths and Elder Things. Now this. Antarctica is weird.[/QUOTE] Damn you. [editline]3rd August 2012[/editline] Ninja'd. [editline]3rd August 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=ironman17;37051909]Not much there really; just some tree fossils, penguin bones, Predator temple, city of the Elder Things, nothing special.[/QUOTE] And you...

[QUOTE=Persecution;37051839]I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..[/QUOTE] I bet Waldo is there too

Dear all people who rated the OP late: This is 52 million years ago, after the dinosaurs. Directly before and after this short phase, it was like today. However, in the Triassic and Jurassic periods, 225 to 150 mya, it was also warm, as it was closer to the Equator. That has been known for a long time. This is new news. I seem to have retained some information from my second grade dinosaur craze:dance:

You guys have it all wrong, it's just the black oil down there.

[QUOTE=ironman17;37051909]Not much there really; just some tree fossils, penguin bones, Predator temple, city of the Elder Things, nothing special.[/QUOTE] dont forget the secret nazi sub basses

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;37051977]I already knew this, there's evidence of Dinosaurs that lived there. /nerd[/QUOTE] Chillasaurus Rex

[QUOTE=Maloof?;37060793]Chillasaurus Rex[/QUOTE]Nah, Cryolophosaurus and various plateosaurs. Shit how did I remember that

[QUOTE=Persecution;37051839]I'd love to see what's under the ice caps, Ancient civilizations, time capsules from 500,000,000 years ago, Obamas birth certificate, who knows what could be down there..[/QUOTE] I was gonna go all "you do realize life was really rudimentary 500,000,000 years ago" but then I saw the obama thing. [editline]2nd August 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Naaz;37060722]Dear all people who rated the OP late: This is 52 million years ago, after the dinosaurs. Directly before and after this short phase, it was like today. However, in the Triassic and Jurassic periods, 225 to 150 mya, it was also warm, as it was closer to the Equator. That has been known for a long time. This is new news. I seem to have retained some information from my second grade dinosaur craze:dance:[/QUOTE] why has nobody mentioned Pangea? Antarctica wasn't at the South Pole for like the entire Paleozoic era, and was damn close to the equator right after the Cambrian explosion.

I was mainly talking about what happened with Gondwanaland and Laurasia, but yes, you are correct. [sp]Pangaea split into Gondwanaland and Laurasia in the Mesozoic era, in the Jurassic period if I remember. Incase you didn't know.[/sp] [editline]2nd August 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Lankist;37060929]I was gonna go all "you do realize life was really rudimentary 500,000,000 years ago" but then I saw the obama thing.[/quote]Aliens.