00:00Look at those lush coniferous forests and tundra. What a wonderland!
00:04You may have mistakenly thought it's Canada, but it's not.
00:08It's Antarctica, about 34 million years ago.
00:12So what makes Antarctica this frigid today?
00:16It turns out a mix of dropping carbon dioxide levels and some tectonic shuffle
00:20played a huge role in transforming this ice-free paradise
00:24into the frozen continent we know now.
00:28About 50 million years ago, CO2 concentrations were sky-high,
00:32strutting around at around 1,000 to 2,000 parts per million.
00:36But as those levels tumbled down, global temps started to drop,
00:40paving the way for the mighty ice sheets that later took over Antarctica.
00:44While the CO2 dive was happening, tectonic activity
00:48was also working its magic. The big split between South America
00:52and Antarctica opened up the Drake Passage, which created the
00:56Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This powerful current acted
01:00like a bouncer, keeping warm air and ocean currents from crashing the
01:04Antarctic party, and helping keep things rather frosty.
01:08If you mix up Australia and Antarctica, you're not that wrong.
01:12These two continents used to be one.
01:16If you mix up Austria and Australia, it's much worse.
01:20By the way, don't fall for the internet myths and memes. There's no help desk in Austria
01:24specifically for people who intended to fly to Australia.
01:28Now, look at this magnificent Australian pink beach.
01:32It's precious, and not in a figurative sense.
01:36Those mysterious pinkish sands are actually garnet, and it's widely used in jewelry.
01:40Geologists studied those sands and came to the conclusion
01:44that the garnet contained there is older than local mountains.
01:48That doesn't make sense, right? In fact, it does.
01:52You see, Australia didn't used to be this very detached continent
01:56as it is now. Many, many millions of years ago,
02:00Australia and Antarctica were part of the supercontinent Gondwana,
02:04and glacial erosion released the garnet, which eventually made its way
02:08to the beach. These sands formed when South Australia was flat
02:12and chill, long before the mountains appeared.
02:16Most garnet gets washed away, but this batch has a rich history,
02:20dating back to glacial rocks in the transantarctic mountains.
02:24So, this pink sand comes from an ancient mountain range
02:28hidden under Antarctic ice.
02:32Not only does Antarctica ice hide gems like garnet,
02:36if you look harder, you might find entire buildings.
02:40Sounds insane, but this is exactly what a British explorer did.
02:44His name is Chris Brown, and he uncovered an entire building
02:48of ice. He was traveling to the Pole of Inaccessibility,
02:52and it all started with a bummer. Chris and his son
02:56had their plane broken. Suddenly, they spotted a lone bust
03:00peeking out of the snow. This place was an old meteorological station.
03:04Despite freezing conditions, Chris and his son
03:08Micah had a blast exploring. Chris is on a mission to conquer
03:12all seven earthbound poles of inaccessibility, and has tackled
03:16five so far. I guess you already know
03:20that Antarctica is the largest desert on earth, much larger than the Sahara
03:24or the Gobi. Still, despite being the driest continent
03:28on earth, it boasts a seriously weird waterfall.
03:32Nestled in the mesmerizing McMurdo Dry Valleys, it's five stories
03:36tall, and looks like it's gushing blood. It's even called
03:40Blood Falls. It may look outlandish and even frightening,
03:44but its nature can be easily explained. The water that creates
03:48this crimson cascade was once a salty lake, but over time
03:52it became sealed off from the outside world when glaciers formed on top of it.
03:56Now, this ancient water, hanging out 1,300
04:00feet below the surface, has cranked up its salt levels to three times
04:04saltier than the ocean. This salt water is also loaded with
04:08iron and gets zero oxygen, or sunlight. When the
04:12iron-rich water trickles through a crack in the glacier and meets the air,
04:16it rusts up, turning dark red.
04:20You may have mistakenly heard that no bug species belongs to Antarctica,
04:24but it's not exactly true, because there's this tiny Antarctic
04:28midge living there. Plus, there are some spiders too.
04:32Those aren't your average spiders hanging out in the darkest corners
04:36of your apartment. Those are critters lurking in the chilly
04:40darkness of the Antarctic ocean floor. These little marine creepers
04:44are actually anthropods and can stretch around 20 inches across.
04:48As if that wasn't bizarre enough, they also breathe through little holes
04:52in their legs. Quick question. What's the
04:56color that you associate most with Antarctica? I'm sure it's
05:00white. That's my association too. However,
05:04Antarctica may look like a slice of watermelon. That colorful snow
05:08comes courtesy of a tough little algae called Chlamydomonas
05:12nivalis. When things start to warm up during the Antarctic summer,
05:16these little guys release their vibrant red and green spores, painting the snow
05:20in wild and funky colors. But it's best to steer clear, because
05:24that snow is not just a pretty sight. It's also toxic
05:28and definitely not edible.
05:32Searching for fossils is always a blast, but when you're in one of the most remote
05:36spots on the planet, it gets even more exciting. A diverse
05:40team of scientists recently hit the motherlode, pulling in over a ton
05:44of fossils from ancient marine life, dinosaurs, and birds
05:48from the Late Cretaceous period, about 71 million years ago.
05:52Their adventure kicked off with a flight to South America,
05:56followed by a five-day trek through the infamous Drake Passage.
06:00Upon reaching Antarctica, they set up camp using helicopters
06:04and inflatable boats. You might be thinking,
06:08why dig in Antarctica with all that ice? Well, it turns out
06:12there are places where rocks pop up, depending on the season.
06:16The team went to James Ross Island, located in the Antarctic Peninsula,
06:20and they went there during February and March. And that's one of the few
06:24parts of Antarctica where in summer, rocks are exposed,
06:28and those rocks can come from the age of dinosaurs.
06:32The expedition was a success, as they discovered
06:36over a ton of remarkable finds. Next up, the fossils
06:40will head to Chile before making their way to Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum
06:44of Natural History. Among their discoveries, they found
06:48relics dating back about 71 million years, alongside
06:52some around 67 million years old, including plenty
06:56of snails, clams, and various marine creatures.
07:00Yikes! Look at this creepy sea worm.
07:04It could live in LA and be a star in a horror movie, but it chooses
07:08to call the chilly waters of the southern ocean near Antarctica its home.
07:12These worms can grow up to 8 inches long
07:16and 4 inches wide, but don't let their spooky exterior trick you.
07:20Research suggests they might actually be superheroes
07:24in disguise, playing a vital role in keeping ecosystems
07:28buzzing. Now, see that head?
07:32It's not really a head. It's just a retractable throat that helps this
07:36toothy creature chow down on its meals.
07:40Antarctica has many creepy critters to offer. Let me introduce you
07:44to the Antarctic strawberry feather star. It's not like Patrick from
07:48SpongeBob, though. It's more like a deep-sea creature straight out of a horror
07:52movie. Picture this. 20 wiggly arms,
07:56some stretching up to 8 inches, all decked out with these bizarre
08:00little bumps. Yikes, indeed!
08:04Back in 2014, scientists buried 34 seismic monitors
08:08in the snow on the Ross Ice Shelf, which is huge.
08:12Think of it as an ice lab the size of Texas, just chillin' over the southern ocean.
08:16These clever little machines picked up a nearly non-stop
08:20buzzing. Even though our human ears usually can't catch these
08:24frequency sounds, scientists have worked their magic and made them audible
08:28for us. They even shared the creepy audio online.
08:32A glaciologist from the University of Chicago
08:36says that if you could hear this vibration, it'd sound like a swarm of cicadas
08:40taking over the backyard in late summer. But these glacier
08:44explorers weren't trying to capture spooky tunes. They're actually
08:48on a mission to monitor the Ross Ice Shelf because things are heating up.
08:52Literally. And the ice is melting faster than ice cream on a hot day.
08:56Ice shelves are like Earth safety plugs, keeping all that
09:00massive ice from surging into the ocean. So what exactly
09:04is making all that noise? It's likely just strong winds
09:08whipping across ice dunes, creating a kind of natural vibration.
09:12That's it for today!
09:16So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and
09:20share it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay
09:24on the Bright Side!
Comments