Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Like us on Facebook
Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Curiosmos
No Result
View All Result

Scientists Find Traces of Massive Ancient Rainforests in Antarctica

Ivan PetricevicbyIvan Petricevic
April 5, 2020 - Updated on August 4, 2022
in Editor's Picks
A photograph of a forest that was likely similar to the one that existed in Antarctica in the distant past. Depositphotos.

A photograph of a forest that was likely similar to the one that existed in Antarctica in the distant past. Depositphotos.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Scientists have found evidence of lush forests where life thrived, existing in Antarctica more than 90 million years ago.


None is perhaps as mysterious and beautiful as Antarctica of all the continents on the planet’s surface.

Since time immemorial, the icy continent has been a desert where life struggles to survive. Although many experts have theorized that things were different in Antarctica in the distant past, we’ve never really known to what extent this may have been so.

However, things have just changed: a group of experts has discovered conclusive evidence that extensive forests covered Antarctica in the distant past, where life flourished for millions of years.

Related Posts

An artists rendering of a planet colonized by intelligent alien beings. Shutterstock.

Over 36 Intelligent Alien Civilizations Likely Exist in Our Galaxy Alone

June 16, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
Remnant of Kepler's supernova, which the famous astronomer discovered in 1604. This is a composite image from optical and X-ray data. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/NCSU/M.Burkey et al; Optical: DSS

How a Supernova mass extinction event reshaped life on Earth

December 12, 2018 - Updated on April 16, 2025

Around 90 million years ago, during a period known as the Middle Cretaceous, dense concentrations of atmospheric CO2 created a warmer global temperature, melting the polar ice sheets and raising the oceans by more than 170 meters above current levels.

As you would imagine, the world looked very different back then compared to what it does now. But what about Antarctica? What did the frozen continent look like at that time? Now, thanks to an amazing scientific discovery, we have an answer.

An ancient Antarctic Rainforest

In 2017, during an expedition aboard the RV Polarstern in the Amundsen Sea, researchers drilled the surface under West Antarctica’s seabed, near Pine Island and the Thwaites glaciers. This was about 900 kilometers from the South Pole.

What they extracted, particularly from a depth of 30 meters, contrasted sharply with the composition of the sediments on the rest of the surface. “During onboard assessments, the unusual coloration of the sediment layer quickly caught our attention,” explained geologist Johann Klages of the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research at the Wegener Institute in Germany.

As revealed by the researchers, the first analysis pointed towards the fact that at a depth of between 27 and 30 meters from the ocean floor, they had found a layer that was originally on land, not under the ocean.

The team was thrown into unknown territory in more ways than one. No one had ever managed to extract a sample of the Cretaceous period from the ground at such a southern point of the globe. Still, the researchers were unprepared for what a closer examination would reveal.

The studies showed an intricate network of fossilized plant roots back on land. Microscopic studies also found evidence of pollen and spores, pointing to the preserved remains of an ancient jungle that existed in Antarctica approximately 90 million years ago, eons before the landscape was transformed into an icy desert.

The numerous plant remains indicate that the West Antarctic coast was, at the time, a dense and swampy jungle, similar to those that currently exist in New Zealand. The implications of this unprecedented finding tell us that polar plant life existed and something about how it was possible. According to the team’s estimates, thanks to the continental drift of the tectonic plates, the site where drill samples were obtained would have been located hundreds of kilometers closer to the South Pole when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

To find out more about life in Antarctica millions of years ago, the researchers decided to reconstruct the planet’s global climate based on the biological and geochemical data they had obtained in the soil samples.

According to computer simulations, atmospheric CO2 levels during the Middle Cretaceous would have been significantly higher than previously thought. The Earth was a much hotter environment, and dense, lush vegetation converted the entire continent. The ice sheets on Earth and their associated cooling effects would have been non-existent at the time.


Join the discussion and participate in awesome giveaways in our mobile Telegram group. Join Curiosmos on Telegram Today. t.me/Curiosmos

Share1815Tweet98Share27ShareSend
Ivan Petricevic

Ivan Petricevic

I've been writing passionately about ancient civilizations, history, alien life, and various other subjects for more than eight years. You may have seen me appear on Discovery Channel's What On Earth series, History Channel's Ancient Aliens, and Gaia's Ancient Civilizations among others.

Related Posts

A declassified document by the CIA about UFOs.
Editor's Picks

According to Declassified CIA Documents, the Nazis Built ‘Flying Saucers’

June 3, 2019 - Updated on October 13, 2022
A screenshot of the alleged video showing a UFO flying near the Moon. Image Credit: Twitter/ Maussan.
Editor's Picks

UFO Researcher Posts Video Showing “Massive” UFO Fly Across the Moon

October 12, 2022 - Updated on January 21, 2024
Here Are 15 Breathtaking Images Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope
Editor's Picks

Here Are 15 Breathtaking Images Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope

April 1, 2019 - Updated on January 22, 2024
Incredible Archaeological Discoveries
Editor's Picks

15 Incredible Finds Uncovered During Excavations

January 16, 2023
An image of an alien geing? Source: Shutterstock
Editor's Picks

12 Times UFOs Appeared During Missions in Space

October 19, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
Stairway to Heaven at Tianmen Mountain is China’s most mystical climb
Editor's Picks

Stairway to Heaven at Tianmen Mountain is China’s most mystical climb

January 28, 2019 - Updated on April 17, 2025
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Fair Use Notice
  • DMCA / Removal
  • Impressum
  • Contact
  • Fact-Checking Policy
  • Ethics Policy
  • Ownership and Funding Information
  • Impressum
CURIOSMOS.COM

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists