10 Greatest Discoveries Found In Antarctica

10 Greatest Discoveries Found In Antarctica

If you're new, Subscribe! → http://goo.gl/djmfuX

Fact File is the #1 place for all your heart warming stories about amazing people that will inspire you everyday. Make sure to subscribe and never miss a single video!

#viral #amazing #FactFile #animals


The southernmost continent is an excellent place to be and has some breathtaking sites. The surprising color range, grinding glaciers, and steep mountains contribute to making this beautiful landscape what it is. Since the area is remote, most of these wonderful places are unknown. Thanks to researchers, we can now catch a glimpse of the mysteries that lie within.
Sit tight as I take you through the ten greatest discoveries found in Antarctica.
10. Blood falls
There is a five-story waterfall in the McMurdo Dry Valley that pours out of Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonney. It resembles a gush of blood from a wound in the ice, and scientists have succeeded in unearthing the real gist behind this strange phenomenon. The water that flows into the Blood Falls used to be a salty lake but is now cut off from the atmosphere because of the glaciers on top of the lake. The water is preserved 400 meters underground, thereby making it three times saltier than usual.
This saltwater is rich in iron and devoid of sunlight and oxygen. As the iron-rich water passes through a fissure and comes in contact with air, the iron oxidizes and rusts. It then affects the color of the water and gives it its reddish color. You can't visit this site on foot or by car because it is only accessible by cruise ships or helicopter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=085vQpDGZdw
9. Unusual creatures
Antarctica is an icy and barren continent with fierce winds, cold temperatures, and very little rain. It is no wonder that scientists had initially thought that no life could exist here. The coldest temperature recorded here is -84.4°C. Despite the harsh weather conditions, this small continent is home to a myriad of unique wildlife. How some of these animals manage to survive the terrible conditions here remains a puzzle to researchers. It becomes evident that life is not only thriving on this part of the earth but bubbling too.
There are colossal squid, microbes, crustaceans, leggy spiders, giant worms with shiny golden bristles, and a host of others. You can even find transparent ice fish here. These fish species have large eyes and transparent skin that allows you to see through them. They also have antifreeze glycoproteins that help them cope in chilly waters. If they're taken to warmer waters, they will die. They also don't have hemoglobin, the protein that makes their blood red.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t53moWmWeXM
8. Ancient fossils and rainforest
Antarctica has undergone an incredible transformation over millions of years. Before it became known as a frozen desert after the Ice Age, it used to be a warm region with a vast rainforest. How did researchers know? They discovered some fossilized wood suggesting signs of tropical trees and leaf impressions. This doesn't have any other meaning if not that there was civilization and a thriving rainforest here. They also found dozens of fossils from birds, dinosaurs, and marine animals.
Smaller species like the fossilized forewings of beetles were also uncovered. Scientists say they lived between 14 million to 20 million years ago when the climate was warm. Despite sketches of evidence, this issue remains a topic of debate. There's also a fifty-million-year-old sperm cell belonging to an extinct species of worm. Scientists are hopeful that this discovery will lead to new evolutionary information.

7. Gamburtsev mountain range
Beyond the vast ice sheets of Antarctica are secrets that would take thousands of years to overcome. The massive mountain range is one highly unexplored area even though researchers are doing a good job unearthing some of the secrets. Hidden below a two-thousand-kilometer-thick ice sheet are the Gamburtsev mountains. They measure over 1200 kilometers and rise to 3000 meters.
They were named after a Soviet geophysicist, Grigoriy A. Gamburtsev, after it was discovered in 1958 by Russian scientists. The researchers traveled across the continent when they saw a thin spread of ice that recorded an abnormal gravity fluctuation. When they looked closely, they saw the incredible wonder below. Although we haven't seen the mountains, scientists use radar to ascertain their physical structures. The magnetic and gravitational readings allow them to study the mountains up to their base. Researchers are in awe as to how this mountain was formed and why they still exist. Since the mountains are said to be over a billion years old, they should have vanished with the geological passing of time. Many theories explain their continued existence, one of which is that there could be a frozen mantle protecting them from erosion.