{"id":7238,"date":"2020-05-14T10:04:31","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T14:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/?p=7238"},"modified":"2020-05-14T10:04:31","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T14:04:31","slug":"the-lost-ancient-humans-of-antarctica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/?p=7238","title":{"rendered":"The Lost Ancient Humans of Antarctica"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Beneath Antarctica&#8217;s Ice, Intriguing Evidence of Lost Continents<\/h1>\n<div class=\"byline-social\">\n<p class=\"byline\" style=\"text-align: center;\">By\u00a0<span class=\"no-wrap by-author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/author\/stephanie-pappas\" rel=\"author\">Stephanie Pappas<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<time class=\"no-wrap relative-date chunk\" datetime=\"2018-11-13T15:55:15Z\">November 13, 2018<\/time><\/p>\n<nav class=\"socialite-widget box less-space \" data-contexturl=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/64073-lost-continents-beneath-antarctic-ice.html\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section class=\"content-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"box\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"block-image-ads hero-image aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN-320-80.jpg\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 602px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN-320-80.jpg 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN-480-80.jpg 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN-650-80.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN-970-80.jpg 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN-1024-80.jpg 1024w\" alt=\"Beneath the Antarctic ice lie the remnants of &quot;lost&quot; continents.\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/FQ4SBMTyYVAkranNdAAKCN.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Beneath the Antarctic ice lie the remnants of &#8220;lost&#8221; continents.<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit\" style=\"text-align: center;\">(Image: \u00a9 Vipersniper\/iStock\/Getty Images Plus)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\"text-copy bodyCopy auto\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">A new map reveals the remnants of ancient continents lurking beneath Antarctica&#8217;s ice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The map shows that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/21677-antarctica-facts.html\" data-component-tracked=\"1\">East Antarctica<\/a>\u00a0is made up of multiple cratons, which are the cores of continents that came before, according to study leader J\u00f6rg Ebbing, a geoscientist at Kiel University in Germany.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"hawk-widget\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\"><\/aside>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8220;This observation leads back to the break-up of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/37285-gondwana.html\" data-component-tracked=\"1\">the supercontinent Gondwana<\/a>\u00a0and the link of Antarctica to the surrounding continents,&#8221; Ebbing told Live Science. The findings help reveal fundamental facts about Earth&#8217;s tectonics and how Antarctica&#8217;s land and ice sheets interact, he wrote in an email. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/64039-photos-antarctica.html\" data-component-tracked=\"1\">Antarctica: The Ice-Covered Bottom of the World (Photos)<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/80\/590x\/antarctica-929387.jpg?r=1572022387669\" alt=\"antarctica\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Because the continent is so remote and buried in ice, Antarctica is a bit of a blank spot on the geologic map, Ebbing said. The researchers used data from the European Space Agency&#8217;s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite to fill in the blanks. GOCE orbited Earth from 2009 to 2013, gathering data on the planet&#8217;s gravity field. Gravity&#8217;s pull differs very slightly from one point on Earth to another, depending on changes in topography and the density of the planet&#8217;s interior.<\/p>\n<div class=\"future__jwplayer--carousel\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div class=\"jw-carousel\">\n<div class=\"carousel__title carousel__title--black-logo\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"botr_yxRPy1kq_LVRxKXnB_div\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"slot-double-height-image-0\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"pull-\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\">\n<figure class=\"expandable-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"pull- expandable lazy-image-van optional-image loaded aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/vanilla.futurecdn.net\/livescience\/media\/img\/missing-image.svg\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 602px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD-320-80.jpg 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD-650-80.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD-970-80.jpg 970w\" alt=\"GOCE orbited Earth from 2009 to 2013, mapping gravity differences below to tease out the planet&amp;#39;s topography and interior structure.\" data-normal=\"https:\/\/vanilla.futurecdn.net\/livescience\/media\/img\/missing-image.svg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD-320-80.jpg 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD-650-80.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD-970-80.jpg 970w\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4ujFw53f8btBXNERgTWwtD.jpg\" data-was-processed=\"true\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"expand icon icon-expand-image\"><\/div>\n<\/figure><figcaption class=\"pull-\"><span class=\"caption-text\">GOCE orbited Earth from 2009 to 2013, mapping gravity differences below to tease out the planet&#8217;s topography and interior structure.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: ESA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">By measuring these changes, GOCE provided the data to make a full gravity map of the planet. Ebbing and his team used other satellite data to virtually strip the ice from Antarctica to focus on the bedrock beneath.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">When they looked at this layer, they found evidence of the continent&#8217;s history as part of Gondwana, a supercontinent made of the modern Southern Hemisphere continents, which broke up about 180 million years ago. East Antarctica&#8217;s crust is thicker than West Antarctica&#8217;s: It&#8217;s between 25 miles and 37 miles (40 and 60 kilometers) thick, compared with the West&#8217;s 12 miles and 22 miles (20 and 35 km) thick. The East Antarctic crust is also a mishmash of old cratons, Ebbing said, including the Mawson Craton, which has a matching fragment in southern Australia.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Lost Ancient Humans of Antarctica\" width=\"1260\" height=\"709\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iBF0hP2_nGw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The new data reveal more complexity in East Antarctica&#8217;s ancient cratons than previously known, Ebbing said. The modern-day continent is also host to regions called orogens, which are crumpled-up regions where ancient continents would have rammed together to build mountains.<\/p>\n<div class=\"slot-interscroller\">\n<div class=\"ogrpjgbahripvnte\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"bordeaux-outer-box interscroller-10-10\">\n<div class=\"bordeaux-inner-box\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Another intriguing discovery was a low-density area beneath Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica. The existence of this low-density portion of the upper mantle \u2014\u00a0the layer of the planet beneath the crust \u2014\u00a0may be due to an ancient mantle plume, Ebbing and his colleagues wrote Nov. 5 in the journal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-018-34733-9#author-information\" data-component-tracked=\"1\">Scientific Reports<\/a>. Mantle plumes are places in the mantle where hot blobs of rock rise like the lumps in a lava lamp. They can sometimes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/37373-mantle-plume-search-begins.html\" data-component-tracked=\"1\">lead to the formation of volcanoes<\/a>. The Antarctic mantle plume would date back to sometime in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/40352-cenozoic-era.html\" data-component-tracked=\"1\">last 66 million years<\/a>, according to the researchers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/64073-lost-continents-beneath-antarctic-ice.html\">VIA:<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beneath Antarctica&#8217;s Ice, Intriguing Evidence of Lost Continents By\u00a0Stephanie Pappas\u00a0November 13, 2018 &nbsp; Beneath the Antarctic ice lie the remnants of &#8220;lost&#8221; continents. (Image: \u00a9 Vipersniper\/iStock\/Getty Images Plus) A new map reveals the remnants of ancient continents lurking beneath Antarctica&#8217;s ice. The map shows that\u00a0East Antarctica\u00a0is made up of multiple<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/?p=7238\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16,3,8],"tags":[442,616,617],"class_list":["entry","author-admin","post-7238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-way-of-a-human","category-entertainment","category-observations","tag-africa","tag-antarctica","tag-lost-ancient-humans"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/maxresdefault-1-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7238"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7241,"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238\/revisions\/7241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fopsobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}