3 ms·
> 1.2 million-year-old ice core from Antarctic Dumb question … does that mean that 1.2M years ago, Antarctica wasn’t frozen but a warm climate at South Pole?
by tiffanyh 2y ago
> 1.2 million-year-old ice core from Antarctic
Dumb question … does that mean that 1.2M years ago, Antarctica wasn’t frozen but a warm climate at South Pole?
EDIT:
When I say “warm” climate, I mean “an above freezing climate” (which might still be cold but warmer than 0C/32F)
- ceejayoz 2y agoNo. That means it was frozen at that time. The big freeze was 10-14 million years back. Before that it was tundra and small ice caps. Go back 30-50M and you'll get to tropical rainforests.
- brabel 2y agoSo the ice just wasn't accumulating until 1.2 million years ago despite that? Why not if the climate was already similar to today's? EDIT: notice that they "hit bedrock" at 1.2 million year old ice... perhaps you missed that part.
- ceejayoz 2y agoWhat exactly are you struggling with? Ice caps move. The original ice from ten million years ago largely made its way into the ocean as icebergs. The oldest ice we can find is stuff stuck in depressions somewhere that hasn’t moved in some time. We may find another older pocket in another space, just like this one was older than the last record. For similar reasons, the oldest paper we can find is not the first paper ever. It sets a minimum age for paper, not a maximum.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- F7F7F7 2y agoCan you explain to me how this sort of thinking works? I couldn’t ever imagine making this sort of assumption based off an article and my admittedly very low understanding of Antarctica.
- dboreham 2y ago1.2M isn't very long. It was in the same place and the climate was similar to today's. There were human-like apes living at the time in Africa. The Antarctic ice sheet is believed to be more than 30M years old.