Antarctica's Climate History
The documentary "Secrets Beneath the Ice" is an account of the study that has been performed in the realm of understanding the historical climate of Antarctica so as to predict the future glacial behavior of the continent. The study is inspired by concerns of possible glacial melting that could be caused by the current conditions of global warming. Scientists wish to establish the possibility of glacial melting in Antarctica. According to the documentary, the climate of Antarctica was initially warm, and rivers used to flow through the valleys of Antarctica. Because of tectonic movements, Antarctica separated from the rest of the continents and freezing began.
The Revelations of Ice Core Extracted In Antarctica
The ice cores are extracted in the studies featured in the documentary provide concrete evidence suggesting that Antarctica had a warm climate over 1000 million years ago. According to the documentary, the ice cores contained shells. The availability of shells in the ice cores suggests that Antarctica had a warm climate that could support tropical oceanic animals. Besides, the ice cores extracted contain fossils of leaves, which indicate that Antarctica had a climate that could support plantation. The availability of leave fossils and shells in the ice cores suggests that Antarctica had a balanced flora and fauna millions of years ago. Besides, the ice cores extracted contain ancient gas bubbles that are trapped inside the ice. The analysis of the gas suggests that Antarctica had a warm terrestrial climate. However, ice cores dating fourteen million years ago reveal presence of moss fossils that could exist in an icy climate. The finding strongly suggests Antarctica started freezing approximately 14 years ago. However, no evidence from the ice cores that shows whether Antarctica has ever melted since freezing began 14 million years ago.
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The Process of Ice Extraction
The process used in extracting ice cores in the documentary involves deep drilling using sophisticated drilling machinery. The drilling is done on the sea floor that contains glacial deposits. The glacial deposits in the sea floor are arranged into layers that date back to different ages. The drilling process is done through blasting sounds deep into the ice cores. The vibrations caused by the blasts results in the deposition of ice cores, which bare different characteristics according to the layer of extraction. The ice core is split and exposed to an x-ray for analysis.
