All articles tagged with #antarctica
New computer models suggest mantle-wave driven uplift after Gondwana's breakup raised East Antarctica high enough by about 45 million years ago to form mountain glaciers and seed the Antarctic ice sheet long before the Arctic froze; the study shows elevation and latitude are as important as CO2 cooling in glaciation and cautions that warming today can erode ice faster than it can regrow.
Three new studies and accessible explainers suggest Thwaites Glacier is melting faster than previously thought: an under-ice collapse could begin within a year, with the glacier potentially speeding toward the sea over decades to a century; visuals explain tides, warming waters, and feedbacks, with Marine Ice Sheet Instability favored, underscoring scientists’ call for drastic carbon reductions to mitigate future impacts.
A new study argues that deep-Earth mantle waves, triggered during the Gondwana breakup, uplifted East Antarctica around 45 million years ago. This uplift raised elevations high enough for snow to persist, allowing the East Antarctic ice sheet to form by about 34–35 million years ago and contribute to global cooling. The Arctic, lacking similar high terrain, lagged behind by roughly 25 million years, with climate and CO2 declines later driving ice-age conditions. The work suggests geology helped set the stage for ice sheets long before climate alone made the poles cold.
A fossil bone tucked away in the British Antarctic Survey archives for 40 years has been confirmed as Antarctica's earliest dinosaur, a Late Cretaceous sauropod tail vertebra from James Ross Island. Reanalyzed by BAS scientists, the lithostrotian titanosaur adds to Antarctica's rare dinosaur record and could shed light on Gondwana dispersal; the find, published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, is only the second sauropod fossil known from the continent.
A rare titanosaur tail bone from Antarctica, found in 1985 on James Ross Island and stored for decades, has been identified by researchers; the fossil suggests Antarctica once hosted lush forests and a hospitable habitat for dinosaurs, though the exact species remains unidentified.
A Titanosaur vertebra found in 1985 by a British Antarctic Survey team and stored in a museum drawer for decades has been reclassified as Antarctica’s first dinosaur fossil, dating to about 82 million years ago. The bone belongs to a small-to-mid-sized titanosaur, suggesting these long-necked giants once inhabited Antarctica’s forested past and hinting that southern continents remained connected via Gondwana for dinosaur dispersal.
Antarctica’s Mount Erebus—the southernmost active volcano with a permanent lava lake—releases microscopic crystals of pure gold in its volcanic gases. About 80 grams of gold crystals are emitted daily (roughly $6,000), totaling over $2 million per year, with crystals able to travel up to 1,000 kilometers before depositing on ice. Scientists propose two main theories for formation—direct crystallization from chlorine-rich gases as they cool, or growth on the lava lake surface before release—yet the exact mechanism remains unsolved.
A rare Titanosaur dinosaur fossil from Antarctica was found tucked away in a drawer, a surprising discovery that sheds light on the continent’s prehistoric life.
Researchers studying Mount Erebus in Antarctica found micron-scale, faceted gold crystals in snow around the crater, in the volcanic plume, and in distant Antarctic air up to 1,000 km away, with an estimated 80 grams of gold emitted daily. Erebus appears unique in producing crystalline gold particles, unlike other volcanoes, and how the gold separates from volcanic gases remains unclear. Theories include gold riding in chlorine- or sulfur-bearing gases that crystallize as they cool, or gradual formation on the lava lake surface before being carried aloft. The exact mechanism remains unresolved since a 1991 Geophysical Research Letters paper.
A fossil forgotten for 40 years in a Cambridge drawer has been identified as the tail vertebra of a Titanosaur, marking Antarctica’s first dinosaur bone. Originally collected in 1985 on James Ross Island during a British Antarctic Survey expedition, the specimen was re-examined by paleontologists from the Natural History Museum who confirmed the find; the dinosaur was about 23 feet long and lived around 82 million years ago when Antarctica was forested and warmer.
Researchers confirm the first dinosaur bone found on Antarctica is a fragmentary sauropod vertebra dating to the Late Cretaceous Campanian, likely a six to seven meter titanosaur. Collected in 1985 on James Ross Island, the incomplete bone expands the continent's dinosaur record and hints at ancient connections with South America and Zealandia.
USF researchers collected Antarctic ascidians (sea squirts) and found toxins they produce can kill melanoma cells in mice, suggesting potential for a new melanoma treatment. Developing a safe, human-approved drug will require extensive lab work, animal studies, and synthetic production, with ongoing NSF-funded collaborations to reproduce the toxin and move toward trials while addressing ecological and safety concerns.
A 20-foot orange autonomous underwater vehicle named Ran explored the underside of West Antarctica's Dotson Ice Shelf in 2022, revealing a complex ice topography with terraces, channels, and teardrop pits unseen by satellites; when researchers returned in 2024 to monitor movement, Ran vanished without a trace, leaving researchers unsure of the cause but with valuable mapping data that show how warming Circumpolar Deep Water melts the shelf and could influence future sea-level rise.
Researchers analyzed data from 49 seismic stations across East Antarctica with a deep-learning detector, identifying about 510 deep, intermediate-depth earthquakes (magnitudes 1.6–3.5) clustered 100–150 km beneath the David Glacier. Occurring far from plate boundaries, these intraplate quakes are likely driven by rock bending from high-temperature mantle and a nearby lithospheric boundary between East and West Antarctica, illustrating how AI can reveal hidden seismic activity.
A Texas-sized patch of winter sea ice failed to form in the Bellingshausen Sea off western Antarctica, a rare gap visible via satellites and likely linked to ocean warming; scientists say this is at least the third year in four that the region has seen unusually low sea ice, with potential effects on climate, ocean currents, and wildlife, and implications for nearby ice shelves such as Thwaites Glacier.