Today we know Antarctica as an extreme environment (contain) ice and snow. But new research provides evidence that the area was very different in the past, was found inside a piece of Earth sediment (沉淀物) gathered by researchers under the seafloor off the coast of Antarctica.
In the sediment, they (find) forest soil estimated to be about 90 million years old and this would have been in the Cretaceous Period, when dinosaurs were the main land (animal). Johann Klages, who was the lead writer of a study on the findings (publish) in the journal Nature, said the sediment collection was from depth of about 30 meters below the ocean floor. Klages said an examination showed that the material formed on land, not in the ocean.
The Earth has experienced in the past and is (current) undergoing today. The researchers said that the rainforest environment in Antarctica was especially surprising, because each year the area (experience) a four-month polar night when there is no sunlight to fuel plant life. Klages said no ice sheets were present during the time, but (season) snowfall was likely.
