First Antarctic Amber Discovery Sheds Light On Existence Of Forests 90 Million Years Ago

BERLIN: Scientists in Germany have discovered amber in Antarctica for the first time, revealing that around 90 million years ago, the continent’s climate conditions supported resin-producing forests, Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) reported.

This southernmost discovery of amber offers new insights into Cretaceous forests near the South Pole, AWI said in a press release. The amber was discovered in a sediment core retrieved from the Amundsen Sea at a depth of 946 meters, using a seabed drilling device during a 2017 expedition aboard the icebreaker Polarstern. For analysis, the source material was carefully air-dried and sliced ​​into pieces about 1 mm in diameter to extract the amber. Potential remnants of tree bark were also identified, offering further clues about the ancient forests near the South Pole.

“The analyzed amber fragments provide direct insights into the environmental conditions that prevailed in West Antarctica 90 million years ago,” AWI marine geologist Johann P. Klages said. “It was very exciting to realize that, at some point in their history, all seven continents had climates that allowed resin-producing trees to survive.”

The research team, led by scientists from AWI and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, has published their findings in the journal Antarctic Science, Xinhua news agency reported.