Planning a trip to the tip of the Earth? Now there’s yet another reason to do so! Geologists have made a remarkable discovery deep beneath the ice sheets of West Antarctica – the remains of a massive ancient river system that once flowed for nearly 1,000 miles across the frozen continent.
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Among the oldest rivers of the world
The river, which existed during the mid-to-late Eocene epoch around 30-40 million years ago, provides valuable clues about Antarctica’s dramatic climate transformation. At that time, the Earth was experiencing very different atmospheric conditions, with carbon dioxide levels nearly double what they are today. This greenhouse gas-fueled warmth allowed a temperate rainforest to thrive where a frozen desert now lies.
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The discovery was made by a team led by sedimentologist Johann Klages of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Germany. In 2017, Klages and his colleagues drilled deep into the seafloor beneath the western Antarctic ice sheet, retrieving sediment cores that held a remarkable record of the region’s ancient past.
Replete with fossils
If reports are to go by, the lower portion of these cores contained fossils, pollen, and spores indicating a lush, temperate environment during the mid-Cretaceous period around 85 million years ago. But the upper layers, dating to the Eocene epoch, told an even more remarkable story.
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Here the researchers found a distinct, finely layered pattern in the sediments – exactly the kind of stratigraphy one would expect to see in an ancient river delta. Further analysis confirmed the presence of molecules unique to freshwater cyanobacteria, leaving little doubt that a massive river system had once flowed across the region.
A glimpse of the past
By tracing the origin of the sediments, the team was able to map the river’s course, which they estimate stretched nearly 930 miles (1,500 km) from the Transantarctic Mountains to the Amundsen Sea.
This discovery offers a rare glimpse into Antarctica’s distant past, before it was encased in kilometres of ice. It also highlights the dramatic climate shifts the continent has endured – from lush, temperate conditions to the frozen desert of today.
As concerning as this may be, the researchers say the findings could also provide valuable insights to help predict how climate change may impact the continent in the future. After all, the Eocene epoch saw CO2 levels similar to what climate models predict for the next century or two if emissions continue unabated.
“This is exciting – just having this exciting image in your brain that there was this gigantic river system flowing through Antarctica that is now covered by kilometres of ice,” said Klages. The team plans to continue analysing the ancient sediments, hoping to better understand how such a radical climate transformation unfolded – and what that might mean for Antarctica’s future.
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