Fossils date Antarctica's climate shift
- added July 23, 2008
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- rwylie
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Tiny fossils have helped to date the age of Antarctica's remarkable 'Dry Valleys', which are among the driest places on Earth, and have a landscape similar to that of Mars.
Prior to around 14 million years ago, the area was relatively habitable, with a lake allowing small shrimps to thrive, albeit in cold Tundra-like conditions.
But then an unknown climate shift caused strange 'kabbatic' winds, caused when cold, dense air is pulled downhill simply by gravity, to occur, leaving a landscape with incredibly low humidity, completely hostile to life.
The occasional lost seals which wander into the valleys die very quickly, and their mummified corpses litter the landscape.
Prior to around 14 million years ago, the area was relatively habitable, with a lake allowing small shrimps to thrive, albeit in cold Tundra-like conditions.
But then an unknown climate shift caused strange 'kabbatic' winds, caused when cold, dense air is pulled downhill simply by gravity, to occur, leaving a landscape with incredibly low humidity, completely hostile to life.
The occasional lost seals which wander into the valleys die very quickly, and their mummified corpses litter the landscape.
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