Tropical Antarctica

Patricia Ryberg, Assistant Professor of Biology at Park University has been studying tree fossils buried under a mile of ice in the Antarctic. She discovered that “the pattern of growth in the Antarctic tree samples showed habits typically associated with evergreen trees. However, the fossilized leaf impressions demonstrated what appeared to have been a matting effect, layers of plant tissue indicative of a forest shedding all of its leaves at once: a deciduous forest. The research would seem to suggest then that these were mixed forests, containing both evergreen and deciduous tree populations.”

Surprisingly, she found that “much of the ring structure in these samples shares characteristics with tropical trees. As tropical trees experience less of a seasonal effect, they are known to go through periods of short-term dormancy; a process that results in sporadic bursts of growth. This might well account for how the forests of Antarctica were able to survive during extended periods of darkness.”

Antarctica: Once a vacation destination for residents of Atlanta seeking relief from winter weather.