A first-of-its kind find discovery in Antarctica could be the strongest evidence yet that lush rainforests once thrived near the South Pole.German geologists have discovered amber – fossilised tree resin – in samples of mud recovered from the seafloor near the outer edges of the icy continent’s landmass in 2017.The nuggets reveal ‘direct insights into environmental conditions that prevailed in West Antarctica 90 million years ago’, wrote Dr.
Johann P.Klages, who led the team from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven.The researchers previously found that a layer of mudstone in the area was ‘rich’ in microscopic fossils of spores or pollen and was once pocked by plant roots.
But until now, amber – a universal byproduct of tree life – has never been found on the Antarctic continent.The sample ‘indicates in more detail’ how this forest, in an area called Pine Island, could have worked, Dr Klages told Phys.org.‘It was very exciting to realize that at some point in their history, all seven continents had climatic conditions allowing resin-producing trees to survive.
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