The presence of amber in Antarctica proves that in the middle of the Cretaceous period there were temperate tropical forests on all continents.
The discovery, made by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Technical University of Freiberg Mining Academy, offers a rare chance to glimpse the prehistoric environment of Antarctica. This shows that the ice kingdom was once home to dense swampy forests and resin-producing trees.
The study considers that the age of the “amber from Pine Island” is approximately 90 million years, reports Noi.md with reference to unian.
Amber mined from Pine Island Bay provides a unique picture of life in prehistoric Antarctica. The research team used a drilling rig to extract the sediment core from nearly a kilometer deep.
The researchers found evidence of pathological resin flow, a defense mechanism that trees use to protect themselves from injury, infection or forest fires. This amber retained traces of resin produced by the trees as a protective barrier, suggesting that the forest was burned or destroyed by vermin.
In addition, the hard, transparent, and largely intact quality of amber suggests that it was buried close to the Earth’s surface, rather than deep in the ground, where heat and pressure would likely have destroyed it.
The discovery of Pine Island amber is not just an exciting find; it is a significant piece of the geological and environmental puzzle that reconstructs the Earth’s climate history.
The presence of amber in Antarctica further proves that temperate rainforests existed on every continent during the mid-Cretaceous period.
