Antarctica: A Geological History of the Last Great Wilderness

written by Lexi Delmonico

Antarctica is perhaps the most mysterious continent on our planet. Once a part of the supercontinent Gondwana, Antarctica has dinosaur and marsupial fossils from a time when its climate was not the snowy landmass we know it as today. According to the Australia Antarctic Program, the continents of Australia and Antarctica that were once connected, completely separated only 30 million years ago. Considering that the Earth has been alive for 4.5 billion years, this separation is fairly recent in geological history.

Of the dinosaurs that once roamed the “cold temperate rainforests” that made up Antarctica, the ankylosaurs, an armored dinosaur, and the mosasaur and plesiosaur, marine reptiles, are the most formally outlined. Antarctica is also a place where various dolphin and whale fossils have been found. It also shows evidence of a major extinction event that occurred 2 to 3 million years ago. The cause is up for debate with scientists theorizing that “the closure of the Isthmus of Panama, which caused the flow of water from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean to stop” or that “the Himalayas, which were growing at the time and influenced the circulation of the atmosphere in the northern hemisphere”.

Seymour Island, residing in the Northern-most part of the continent, is known as “one of the most important fossil sites on Earth”. The extinct Colossus Penguin was found at this location. These penguins thrived in the warmer climate and stood at nearly 7 feet tall. Terrifying.

It is important to note that most of Antarctica is unknown to scientists, because of the dangerous conditions that make it difficult to study

The continent is split primarily by the East and the West The West is smaller and complex as it consists of 4 land units Its volcanic activity makes it a popular destination for geological study. The East is less well known. It hold the bulk of Antarctica’s ice sheet and the Transantarctic Mountains which have an elevation of nearly 15,000 feet.

Although Antarctica is rich in iron ore and coal, attempting to get the resources is extremely dangerous. In 1998, the Madrid Protocol provided universal protection for Antarctica. Mining is illegal on the continent, giving fossil fuel industries one less place to search. As the Earth warms and the ice sheet melts, learning more about Antarctica may provide climate scientists with new information about global warming.

Sources

https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/geographyand-geology/geology/ https://www.pegasustutors.co.uk/blog/2020/8/20/colossuspenguin#:~:text=The%20fossil%20remains%20of%20the,dub bed%20the%20%E2%80%9CColossus%20penguin.%E2%80% 9D https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/geographyand-geology/geology/antarctic-prehistory/ https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/geographyand-geology/geology/mining/

written by Julia San Miguel