Antarctica discovery of ‘warm caves' offered stunning evidence for life beneath ice
Antarctica discovery of ‘warm caves' offered stunning evidence for life beneath ice
Mount Erebus is Antarctica's second-highest active volcano, after Mount Sidley, and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. With a summit elevation of 3,684 metres, it is located on Ross Island, an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea. It has been active for around 1.3 million years and could help provide evidence for a secret world of animals and plants beneath the icy continent.
Surrounding Mount Erebus is an intricate system of caves, hollowed out in the ice by steam.
These caves were explored during an extensive study led by the Australian National University, in which researchers found how steam produced from the volcano travels through open spaces, melting passageways through the network of caves in the process.
The team said the caves are light and could reach temperatures of 25, making them potential breeding grounds for life.
The study was published in 2017 and led by Dr Ceridwen Fraser, Laurie Connell, Charles K. Lee and S. Craig Cary.
At the time, Dr Fraser said: "It can be really warm inside the caves - up to 25 in some caves.
"You could wear a t-shirt in there and be pretty comfortable.
"There's light near the cave mouths, and light filters deeper into some caves where the overlying ice is thin."
GETTY Warm caves in Antarctica
Carrying out DNA analyses of soil taken from the caves, the team found evidence for organisms including algae, moss and small invertebrate animals.
This did not come as a surprise because many of these species are found elsewhere in Antarctica.
But not all sequences could be fully identified.
Dr Fraser explained: "The results from the study give a tantalising glimpse of what might live beneath the ice in Antarctica - there might even be a new species of animals and plants.
"The next step is to go and have a really good look and see if we can find communities living beneath the ice in Antarctica."
No definitive evidence was found to suggest that anything was currently living, but signs that things used to live there were present.
The initial discoveries were just scraping the surface, as co-researcher Charles Lee explained that there are more than a dozen active volcanoes in Antarctica, all of which have similar caves, which can be mapped through radar techniques.
BBC/Chadden Hunter BBC teams explore the ice caves of Mount Erebus.
Most, however, are inaccessible to humans.
Professor Laurie Connell said: "The next steps will be to take a closer look at the caves and search for living organisms. If they exist, it opens the door to an exciting new world."
Despite their discoveries, the study's author conceded that they still know "little" about life inside the cave networks, which "may harbour diverse and complex communities".
But, the discoveries have prompted speculation as to whether extraterrestrial life could be found in Antarctica.
David Childress, author of a number of books focusing on pseudoarchaeological and pseudoscientific topics, spoke to the recent Sky History documentary 'Ancient Aliens'.
The documentary's narrator said recent scientific work has discovered some of these cave networks could be as large as the entire island of Manhattan.
Mr Childress said: "Here we have a huge, apparently, underground world, beneath Antarctica and this could be used by extraterrestrials as these ready-made bases that are underground and are hidden."
One conspiracy theorist believed he had found evidence for extraterrestrial life on an Antarctic island in 2020.
UFO hunter Scott C Waring claimed he had spotted a supposed spaceship on the Lavoisier Island using Google Maps.
He said he had discovered a triangle craft with a hump in the middle, which looked metallic and was "sitting in an area which appears to be the location of an ancient alien base".
Others, however, dismissed his claims, instead arguing that it was simply a rock ridge.
Reference:Daily Express: Charlie Pittock
Articles - Latest
- SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR PAYS TRIBUTE AFTER DEATH OF BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER CO-STAR
- BROOKLYN NINE-NINE' ACTOR ANDRE BRAUGHER'S CAUSE OF DEATH REVEALED
- TRIBUTES POUR IN AFTER FORMER FERRARI PRESS OFFICER ALBERTO ANTONINI PASSES AWAY
- BELOVED BEACH BOYS MEMBER DIES FROM CANCER
- EMMERDALE STARS HAIL STEVE HALLIWELL A ‘SOAP ICON’ AFTER HIS DEATH AGED 77
- KUWAIT RULER SHEIKH NAWAF DIES AT 86 AFTER WEEKS IN HOSPITAL
- KENNY DEFOREST DEATH: COMEDY WORLD MOURNS LOSS OF BELOVED STAND-UP, 37, KILLED IN ROAD ACCIDENT
- AC/DC DRUMMER COLIN BURGESS DIES AGED 77
- LEGENDARY DJ AND RADIO HOST DIES FROM HEART ATTACK AGED 75
- EDITOR OF VLADIMIR PUTIN'S 'FAVOURITE PROPAGANDA NEWSPAPER' FOUND DEAD AT HOME IN MOSCOW
- MR. BIG STUFF SINGER JEAN KNIGHT DIES AGED 80
- HENRY KISSINGER, SECRETARY OF STATE UNDER PRESIDENTS NIXON AND FORD, DIES AT 100
- ATTENBOROUGH UNVEILS ‘T-REX OF THE SEA’ WITH 150-MILLION-YEAR-OLD FOSSIL
- STAGE AND SCREEN STAR SHIRLEY ANNE FIELD DIES AGED 87
- The experience of Transcendence- Milarepa
- Shocking Report: King Charles III allegedly profiting from deceased citizens
- Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were not only a global power couple but also best friends and life mates
- The remarkable South London woman who claimed to be the reincarnation of Ancient Egyptian priestess whose 'past life memories' left historians stunned
- The Human Condition - Contemplation and the Divine Therapy-6
- DARCELLE XV DEAD: WORLD'S OLDEST WORKING DRAG QUEEN DIES AS COMMUNITY LEFT HEARTBROKEN
- ASTEROID EXPLODES OVER ENGLISH CHANNEL AFTER HURTLING TOWARDS EARTH
- 'REST IN POWER': VIGILS HELD ACROSS UK TO REMEMBER TRANS TEEN FATALLY STABBED IN PARK
- LEGALLY BLONDE STAR RAQUEL WELCH DIES AGED 82
Articles - Most Read
- Main
- Contact Us
- The science behind Ouija boards
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness-2
- Cosmic Consciousness-Introduction
- Cosmic Consciousness - Introduction-2
- MASSIVE 6.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS NEW ZEALAND AS NATION STILL REELING FROM CYCLONE
- ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNRAVEL THE TRUTH OF APHRODITE, GODDESS OF LOVE, ON VALENTINE'S DAY
- The Human Condition-Thomas Keating
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - 1V - 2
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - V -
- Cosmic Consciousness V - 2
- Cosmic consciousness - First Words - IV
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness?
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 2
- The Human Condition - Thomas keating-3
- Drinking From The Mountain Stream - Milarepa
- The Human Condition-2-Thomas Keating
- The Human Condition - 4
- Cosmic Consciousness-On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- Cosmic Consciousness - 3 - On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 1
- The Human Condition - 6
- Shakyamuni Buddha or India the 1st “Black Revolutionary Hero.”
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness - 2
- Milarepa's World
- The Human Condition - 5
- Milarepa's World-2
- The Buddhist System of Liberation
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV
- JERRY RAWLINGS, GHANAIAN STRONG MAN WHO CAME TO POWER IN A COUP BUT INTRODUCED DEMOCRACY – OBITUARY
- Contemplation and the Divine Therapy - 2
- The Buddhist System of Liberation - 2
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV - 2