Image: Mounds of snow-like frazil ice under the Antarctic ice shelf. According to research from UT Austin, Europa’s ice shell could be made of the same stuff. © Helen Glazer […]
polar
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine
Where Ice sheet, Ocean and Land Converge
Using a specially designed hot-water drill to cleanly bore through a half mile of ice, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded team of researchers has become the first ever to reach […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Plant Biology, Press Release, Sample Return, Space Agriculture
Moss Brought Back to Life After 1,500 Years Frozen in Ice
Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and Reading University have demonstrated that, after over 1,500 years frozen in Antarctic ice, moss can come back to life and continue to grow.
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Plant Biology
Plants Frozen For Centuries Spring Back to Life
When Catherine La Farge threads her way through the recently exposed terrain left behind by retreating glaciers, she looks at the ancient plant remains a lot closer than most. Now, […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Dinoflagellate Fossils: Antarctic Icecap is 33.6 Million Years Old
The Antarctic continental ice cap came into existence during the Oligocene epoch, some 33.6 million years ago, according to data from an international expedition led by the Andalusian Institute of […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Brinicles or sea stalactites provide clues to origin of life
Life on Earth may have originated not in warm tropical seas, but with weird tubes of ice — sometimes called “sea stalactites” — that grow downward into cold seawater near […]