Scientists Discover 34-Million-Year-Old Landscape Beneath Antarctic Ice

Scientists have discovered a remarkably well-preserved ancient landscape beneath more than a mile of ice in East Antarctica's Wilkes Land, dating back over 34 million years. This 12,000-square-mile terrain includes towering ridges, deep valleys up to 3,900 feet deep, and evidence of rivers and dense forests, including palm trees, suggesting a much warmer prehistoric climate before Antarctica became fully glaciated. The preservation of this landscape is attributed to the extremely cold and slow-moving ice in the region, which caused minimal erosion. Researchers used satellite data, ice-penetrating radar, and sediment drilling to uncover fossilized micro-organisms, plant remains, and sediments that provide new insights into Antarctica’s climate and ecosystem evolution. This discovery offers a rare 'time capsule' view into Earth's past, contributing valuable data to understand the continent’s geological history and the processes leading to its extensive ice coverage. Meanwhile, separate research detected unexplained radio waves deep beneath the Antarctic ice, with no known source, adding further intrigue to the continent's mysteries.