Antarctic Postcard From the Past

A new study finds ancient Antarctica was much warmer and wetter than previously suspected, with a climate that was suitable to support substantial vegetation—including stunted trees—along the edges of the frozen continent. This artist's rendition created from a photograph of Antarctica shows what Antarctica possibly looked like during the middle Miocene epoch, based on pollen fossil data. The landscape featured freshwater algae growing in meltwater ponds, low tundra vegetation on coastal plains and tundra with shrub-like southern beech and low podocarp trees growing on warmer sites, with shrubs as high as approximately 20 inches (50 centimeters).

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Dr. Philip Bart, LSU