Main points
- An international team of scientists has drilled the deepest well in West Antarctica and found evidence that the region was once an ocean.
- The rock samples obtained will help understand past and future climate changes, as they contain the remains of marine organisms, indicating the existence of open waters in the past.
Scientists have unearthed ancient sediments under the ice of Antarctica for the first time – and unexpectedly / The Earth
An international team of scientists has drilled the deepest well in West Antarctica and obtained rock samples that show that the region was an open ocean, not a continuous ice sheet, millions of years ago, a discovery that could help better understand past and future climate change.
In a major scientific project, geologists and climatologists drilled through the West Antarctic ice sheet to a depth of more than 520 meters, then continued drilling into sedimentary rocks for another 228 meters. These rock cores reached the oldest sediments up to 23 million years old. Analyzing them, the team found shell fragments and fossilized remains of marine organisms that require light and salt water. Such material is usually found on the seafloor or under floating glaciers, but not under a pure ice sheet. This is reported by Science Alert .
What exactly was discovered in Antarctica?
“These findings directly suggest that this part of Antarctica was once partly oceanic or had an ice shelf with open water,” said study co-author Molly Patterson of Binghamton University . Previously, scientists had only indirectly suspected this possibility based on distant geological data, but there was no solid evidence.
According to Phys.org, project co-leader Hugh Horgan of Victoria University of Wellington noted that the cores cover a long period, including eras when average global temperatures were significantly higher than pre-industrial levels. This allows scientists to compare past climate conditions with modern patterns of ice and temperature changes.
After drilling was completed, the samples were transported over 1,100 kilometers to Scott Base Station, from where they will be sent to laboratories in New Zealand for more detailed analysis.