Even more worrying to scientists beyond the cavern's existing is how quickly it appeared. ", The team arrived above the buried river just in time to make another interesting observation. But if you empty and refill the tray each night, you get so much more. A lot of marine life would have needed to thrive there to satisfy the appetite of such a large creature, so the fact that these animals continued to exist so late in the Cretaceous adds to the evidence that the aquatic world, at least, was doing just fine right up until the sudden mass extinction. The number of meteorites found in Antarctica is equal to the number of meteorites found in the rest of the world combined. "It looked like a loaf of bread, with a bulge at the top and narrow slope at the bottom," Stevens said. Heres why each season begins twice. An. In 2007, the MS Explorer struck an iceberg while cruising off the Antarctic peninsula and sank, causing an oil spill near penguin breeding grounds. "It is a reminder about just how connected our whole planet is. The bones bear scratches and an embedded tooth that appear to be from a scavenger, most likely a relative of Velociraptor. The difference is that you can actually see something resembling them on Google Earth (coordinates 795839.25S 815732.21W). In the past 15 years, paleontologists have found more types of azhdarchids in France, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere, giving a much better reference for diversity within this pterosaur group. The underside of the river's icy roof looked nothing like what the researchers were expecting. When the seawater freezes into ice, its salty brine is rejected and falls into the underlying water, making it very cold and dense. When it was discovered in 1911 by an Australian geologist, the explanation he came up with was that microscopic red algae gave the waterfall its coloring. Dragon-skin ice is very rare, bizarre, evidence of a darker chaos in the cryospheric realm, not seen in Antarctica since 2007, saidIMAS researcher Dr. Now scientists have learned why its collapsing so quickly: Theres a giant underground cavern in the glacier almost as big as Manhattan. And for his part, OGorman seems thrilled with the whole experience: It was quite cold, and quite cool, too. . The amber adds to fossil evidence that many dinosaurs. Photograph by Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy. Youve got this weird situation where Quetzalcoatlus is basically the first azhdarchid to be named, so it becomes the definition of the [group], and yet theres no good description of it, says Hone, who describes the situation as a giant loop of not being able to solve the problem properly.. It was visible as a long depression, or groove, stretching across the ice a hallmark of an underground river. This sea monster definitely fits the description of scary things found in Antarctica! Pictured near Deception Island (how convenient!) Experts have long suspected that there is a vast network of rivers, lakes and estuaries underneath Antarctica, but until now these features have been poorly studied. The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. It's a rare sight, but that's in part because winter inAntarctica is a bitch and there aren't many people hanging around throwing parties. The cavern was also much wider nearer the roof. Which travel companies promote harmful wildlife activities? One user said: "What looks like hands, fingers and feet and toes is whats hidden in its webbing. The remnants come from the final days of the dinosaurs on Earth, so these strange things in Antarctica are quite an amazing sight to see today! 1 The new Xuelong 2 (Snow Dragon 2 . But now, scientists have finally unearthed the heaviest known elasmosaur, an ancient aquatic reptile that swam the seas of the Cretaceous period alongside the dinosaurs. NASA Found a Manhattan-Sized Cavern in Antarctica, 60 Scientists Are Trying to Block the Sun, giant underground cavern in the glacier almost as big as Manhattan, map out glaciers and ice sheets in three dimensions, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. No, this is not the name of that one metal band your cousin listens to. Over 14,000 meteorites have been found in the Sahara Desert of northern Africa, most since 1995, mainly by nomads and private collectors. As such, Cez and Agness of eTramping were kind enough to provide some spooky, puzzling and altogether creepy things found in Antarctica. "Seeing the effect of the Tongan volcano, which erupted thousands of kilometres away, was quite remarkable," Stevens said. In order to survive, the organisms would have to feed on floating material from other animals or plants, because it is impossible for plants to photosynthesize in the sunless seawater. A discovery of this magnitude would definitely be spooky, but according to LiveScience the formation is simply a mountain that looks like a pyramid. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies/University of Tasmania. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The explorer in me thinks that there must still be plenty more to find! In the meantime, North American paleontologists have been caught in a catch-22. Well, theyre not actually spiders, but a type of primitive marine arthropod. He is also interested in evolution, climate change, robots, space exploration, environmental conservation and anything that's been fossilized. Sea Pigs H.P. By The Siberian Times reporter . By Dustin Nelson. It was previously unknown if they harbored life, which makes the new finding even more important. The data comes from NASAs Operation IceBridge, a program that flies radar-equipped planes over the poles to map out glaciers and ice sheets in three dimensions. Antarctica is ringed with more than half a million square miles of ice shelves the Filchner-Ronne is one of the largest, covering more than 160,000 square miles but boreholes have revealed an area of seafloor beneath them only the size of a tennis court. 03 Mar 2023 23:42:27 Largest fish nursery discovered beneath Weddell Sea in Antarctica, 'Giant MRI of Antarctica' reveals 'fossil seawater' under ice sheet, Rare wispy ice formations streak across the sea near Antarctica in beautiful satellite image, 'Runaway' black hole the size of 20 million suns found speeding through space with a trail of newborn stars behind it, Artificial sweetener may increase risk of heart attack and stroke, study finds, 'Unreal' auroras cover Earth in stunning photo taken by NASA astronaut, Wreck of long-lost US World War II submarine found off Japanese coast. Lovecraft would have probably loved to see this interesting creature. But to those accustomed to the Hollywood image of an iceberg, seeing striped ones can make one feel a bit uneasy. Vostok Lake of Antarctica is the largest subglacial lake in the world. YouTuber Michael Bradbury, who hosts the conspiracychannel MrMBB333, suggested that the skeleton remains indicated a dinosaur which had been preserved in the Antarctic ice. When it was walking on the ground, as azhdarchids often did, it was more than eight feet tall at the shoulder, roughly the same height as some giraffes. The extremely cold water is full of animals such as Antarctic krill, a . ", Another remarked: "Google search for images of seal skeleton shows a pretty good match. Most models of the Thwaites glacier dont take into account rapid cavern forming, so the entire glacier is likely to be melting much faster than our predictions estimate. Cavan Images via Getty Images. Taissa Rodrigues, a paleontologist at Brazils Federal University of Esprito Santo who wasnt involved with the study, says that taking thin sections of Cryodrakon bones could reveal how the pterosaur grew from hatchling to adult. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. This site contains affiliate links for products and services we recommend. However, despite being prominent in the satellite images, the groove initially eluded surface detection, Stevens said. The extremely well-preserved frozen bodies of three Incan child sacrifice victims were found entombed on the Llullaillaco volcano in Argentina in 1999. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, YouTuber Michael Bradbury, who hosts the conspiracy channel MrMBB333,. The researchers had expected that the roof of the chamber would be smooth and flat. formed in Antarctica, just as they have on adjacent continents once connected to Antarctica, but be-cause nearly 98 percent of the continent is covered by ice, few mineral deposits are likely to be exposed. The geologists were more than 150 miles from the open ocean when they bored a hole through the 3,000-foot-thick ice with a hot-water drill and lowered a coring device and a video camera into the dark seawater below it. Scary flick, great performance by Kirk Russell. The 'dragon-skin' ice in Antarctica researchers warn is a sign of 'dark chaos' in the planet's frozen oceans. Fossil 'sea monster' found in Antarctica was the heaviest of its kind The 15-ton elasmosaur adds to evidence that a vibrant marine ecosystem existed just before the dinosaur mass extinction. "Imagine your standard ice-cube tray, filled once," Williams said in the announcement. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? (GiMa38 / CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Accounts of Reptilian Monsters in Modern-Day New Guinea . He then proceeds to analyse the skeleton, before concluding that it could be an ancient dinosaur. All rights reserved. Copyright 2023 Anita Hendrieka. There are not, nor have there ever been actual dragons on Earth. BBC's correspondent predicts leadership chaos even after CDU vote[VIDEO]Stunning backlash grows in revolt over EU's vaccine rollout[VIDEO]Prince William 'concerned' that Harry is trying to 'exploit' Diana[INSIGHT]. If you asked a friend, it would probably be the thing that sunk the Titanic in that famous DeCaprio movie. After completing her undergraduate degree in journalism and environmental studies at Ithaca College, Kacey pursued her master's in Specialized Journalism: Climate Change at USC Annenberg. The mysterious skeleton of a creature has been found on Google Maps in Antartica, The YouTuber shows the creatures front and rear limbs, as the curve of its spine and its skull, The YouTuber proceeds to analyse the skeleton, before concluding that it could be an ancient dinosaur, Stonehenge builders branded just as clever as us, Dinosaur discovery: Found fossils may be largest land animal, MrMBB333 has previously posted videos of 'mysterious' Google Maps in Antarctica, BBC's correspondent predicts leadership chaos even after CDU vote, Stunning backlash grows in revolt over EU's vaccine rollout, Prince William 'concerned' that Harry is trying to 'exploit' Diana, Space law: Is first step of alien constitution being prepared, Area 51 images show strange structure inside an open hangar, Solar flares study: Activity might not preclude existence of life. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. [If] the organisms evolved to live beneath ice shelves, they may provide us with a molecular clock that can be used to gauge past climate driven changes in Antarctic ice., The discovery shows that life can exist in environments where science suggests it should not: There are still things that we have to learn, Griffiths said. Like other members of the shergottite-nakhlite-chassignite (SNC) group of meteorites, ALH84001 is thought to have originated on Mars.However, it does not fit into any of the previously . Long COVID patients turn to unproven treatments, Why evenings can be harder on people with dementia, This disease often goes under-diagnosedunless youre white, This sacred site could be Georgias first national park, See glow-in-the-dark mushrooms in Brazils other rainforest, 9 things to know about Holi, Indias most colorful festival, Anyone can discover a fossil on this beach. As detailed below the claim that the video shows a real dragon inside . Well send you our daily roundup of all our favorite stories from across the site, from travel to food to shopping to entertainment. Scientists aboard the U.S. icebreaker research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer recently sailed to an Antarctic polynya areas of open water that act as ice factories to study the process of ice formation during the autumn-winter season. We dont have a skull, but we have a lot of pieces of the specimen, OGorman says. With such a young history of Antarctic exploration, it is no wonder that there are still many strange things about Antarctica that remain mysterious to this day. On active days, the team had to wait for the sun to defrost the soil before they could excavate, and every piece wrested from the dirt would then need to be shipped by helicopter to the Argentine Marambio Base a few miles away. Their cold habitat has given them some interesting features. All rights reserved, finally unearthed the heaviest known elasmosaur, Find out about a plesiosaur fossil found with a baby preserved in its body, mass extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs, Would the dinosaurs have died out if not for that asteroid? There is a 9- to 10-meter wingspan azhdarchid in this formation; whether or not thats exactly the same as the one weve described, you cant say 100-percent, Hone says. When does spring start? They published . Antarctica hasnt been doing so well lately. Its a huge area, but we have a tiny widow into it, Griffiths said. These underwater terrors can grow up to have a leg span of 25 centimeters. All rights reserved. The different morphology of this species also shows that specialization was still happening at this late point in the existence of plesiosaurs. Did an ancient species of a dragon found living in Antarctica? But after refocusing the camera, they realized that the lens was being swarmed by tiny crustaceans known as amphipods. The bodies of a 13-year-old girl, plus a. The near-perfect skeleton remains were located in a remote inland area of Antarctica. Fossil remains found by a Chilean research team in the Atacama Desert have been determined to belong to a prehistoric pterosaur flying dragon, it was reported. 8 Spooky and Strange Things Found in Antarctica 1. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. As for those sea spiders I may dig em, having seen some cool-looking spiders from the tropics. The male characters all stand on their own, being easily distinguishable from each other. I recommend either SafetyWing or World Nomads. What do you think theyll find on (or in) the icy continent next? The team's research has more important ends in mind, but the images of dragon ice are a reminder that there is beauty to be found even in the harshest regions on the planet. "That is what the katabatic winds are doing in the polynya, removing the ice, exposing the water and making more ice form.". Animal life was not what scientists were expecting to find in the pitch-black seawater beneath almost half a mile of floating Antarctic ice, but it seems to have found a way with the discovery of sea creatures living in the extreme environment. However, sceptics were quick to claim that the remains look like a seal. A National Geographic team has made the first ascent of the remote Mount Michael, looking for a lava lake in the volcanos crater. The dragon skin ice was found among the continent's coastal polynyas,. Researchers drilled more than 1,600 feet under the Larsen Ice Shelf. After drilling out the borehole, the scientists lowered a sediment corer and an attached video camera through the ice shelf. Rare find'. The researchers also unexpectedly discovered that the water column underground split into four or five distinct layers of water flowing in opposite directions. A fossil from Antarctica is now the heaviest known animal in this group of prehistoric marine reptiles. A team of researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany has discovered a whopping 77 seafloor . Tullbergia seems to have persisted in the same place for . To recognize the modern climate in the region where this pterosaur once roamed, they named the new pterosaur Cryodrakon boreas, or the cold dragon of the north winds. Habib, a fan of the TV show Game of Thrones, had also suggested Cryodrakon viserion, a reference to one of the shows dragons, in part because of its rise from the ice, and in part because the animal might have reached movie-monster proportions. It was discovered in 1986 by the South African Speleological Association. NASA warns of 3 skyscraper-sized asteroids headed toward Earth this week. The more that he compared his measurements of Quetzalcoatlus to the Canadian fossil, the more he suspected it wasnt Quetzalcoatlus at all. The shark's scientific name, Dracopristis hoffmanorum, was announced in a press release by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMMNHS) on Thursday. The formation may be . I love these critters. Dragonflies are widely spread throughout the world and can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Nightjars are found all around the world, with the exception of Antarctica and certain island groups such as the Seychelles. Was an ancient species of dragon found living in Antarctica? Satellite photos showed an unusual groove in the ice shelf close to where it met with the land, and researchers identified the peculiar feature as a subsurface river, which they described in a statement (opens in new tab). Both animals belong to a group known as the azhdarchid (azh-DAHR-kid) pterosaurs, which were notable for being mostly head and neck. Lovecraft would have probably loved to see this interesting creature. They used jackhammers, rock saws and chisels at a punishing 4200 metres to unearth the dinosaur, which represents a new genus and species. Future fossils, she adds, could even test whether Cryodrakon varied in size based on sex. In East Antarctica, there is a place where it looks like the continent is gushing out blood. Thankfully, they'll all miss. They are the slugs of the sea and live among other deep-sea creatures such as clams and coral. In the icy badlands of Alberta, paleontologists have found a "frozen dragon": a new genus of pterosaur that once soared over the heads of dinosaurs with a wingspan that stretched at least 16. It was only in 1773 that an expedition led by Captain James Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle. "But what is clear is that great changes are afoot.". Thats awesome, Ryan, thanks a lot for sharing. The arrangement of these pneumatophores can help scientists tell pterosaur species apart. Beyond spooky really because this beast morphed into any being it killed. (Would the dinosaurs have died out if not for that asteroid? Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. At the coordinates 66 36 14 S 99 43 40 E the strange shape is clearly visible among the rock and snow in the hostile continent. That cavern is likely filled with air much warmer than the surrounding ice, triggering faster melting of the glacier than would happen otherwise. NASA Found a Manhattan-Sized Cavern in Antarctica The cavern sits where nearly 14 billion tons of ice used to be, all of which melted in the last few years. The researchers set up camp a couple of days before the record-shattering eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano in Tonga on Jan. 15. Which travel companies promote harmful wildlife activities? The remains of a dinosaur described as the "closest thing we have to a real-life dragon" has been unveiled in . MUST-HAVE: Before you head out on your trip, make sure you have travel insurance. New York, Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The cavern sits where nearly 14 billion tons of ice used to be, all of which melted in the last few years. ", The YouTuber added:"I think this thing was frozen in time. In Thwaites case, that radar uncovered a gigantic cavern between the glacier itself and the bedrock below it. They were some kind of weird plesiosaurs that nobody knew.. This creepy looking fall was named Blood Falls because of its deep color resembling blood. In fact, the further north in latitude you go, the fewer dragonflies . I am a big fan of the movie The Thing, which presented us with a fictional but horrifying alien. Discovered in 2010 in Montanas famed Hell Creek Formation of the late Cretaceous, the 40-foot-long fossil took four years to excavate and prepare. The attribution of "Rainbow Serpent" stems from the belief that rainbows appear when they move from one river or waterhole to occupy another. That guy is big! Schulp says from looking at photos of the bones. These things turned out to be over a ton of fossils on the James Ross Island, ranging from 71 to 67 million years old. Their arrival marked the completion of the Xuelong 2's maiden voyage.Along with her older sister, the Xuelong, China's newest Polar Class 3 icebreaker had steamed more than 70,000 nautical miles over the course of her expedition to Antarctica. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? With 170 of its 300-odd bones preserved, this scientifically important but privately owned skeleton is currently at the Museum fr Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. When flying over whats now Texas, the creatures wingspan stretched more than 30 feet. Some of these Antarctica scary facts have simple explanations, others not so much. But I would be much more conservative in saying its Cryodrakon, because, yeah, theres no features on that at all.. 10:00pm, Feb 16, 2021 Updated: 5:14pm, Feb 16 'Strange creatures' found under Antarctica. Jupiter and Venus 'kiss' in a stunning planetary conjunction tonight. H.P. It took decades of struggling with the weather on a small, desolate island off the Antarctic Peninsula. The discovery of the secret shrimp-infested structure had the team "jumping up and down for joy," Stevens added. Meet the Great Eared-Nightjar, The Bird That Is Basically A Tiny Dragon. The egg case belongs to the class Clitellata worm, species of which are long extinct which makes it quite an extraordinary finding. And when Habib, Hone, and Royal Tyrrell Museum paleontologist Franois Therrien compared the holes in the Canadian pterosaurs neck vertebrae against those for all other known azhdarchids, they found that its arrangement is unique. A new study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology describes a new pterosaur called Cryodrakon boreas, "frozen dragon of the north winds." Development of any resources found in Antarc-tica will be expensive. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The scientists will continue to study the newfound subsurface ecosystem and hope to learn more about how the nutrients in the water are cycled through Antarctica's underground water networks to support the abundance of life that lives there. The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. Scientists have found microplasticssmall plastic debris about the size of a sesame seedin freshly fallen snow in Antarctica for the first time. It resembles a shark, dragon, or whale, or a shapeshifter that can appear like. Coat of arms of the Hungarian Bthory family which depicts a dragon. By Garreth / November 21, 2021. (Find out about a plesiosaur fossil found with a baby preserved in its body.). Life Science Environment 'Strange creatures' found under Antarctica. Fact Check: A video in circulation online since early 2015 claims to show a Real Dragon found Alive inside a Cave, caught on Camera. The way it flies - it's like it's hovering in mid-air, just like a dragon. It is the southernmost continent and is where the South Pole is located. After sending the camera down into the river, the team was surprised to learn that the cavern looked drastically different from what they had predicted. The animal would have weighed as much as 15 tons, and it is now one of the most complete ancient reptile fossils ever discovered in Antarctica. One of the most exciting discoveries is the HMS Endurance, a ship that belonged to explorer Ernest Shackleton that sank in 1915. New Moai statue that 'deified ancestors' found on Easter Island, Lab-grown minibrains will be used as 'biological hardware' to create new biocomputers, scientists propose, Ancient Roman 'spike defenses' made famous by Julius Caesar found in Germany, 'Building blocks of life' recovered from asteroid Ryugu are older than the solar system itself, The ultimate action-packed science and technology magazine bursting with exciting information about the universe, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with checkout code 'LOVE5', Engaging articles, amazing illustrations & exclusive interviews, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, and get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun. The cavern first appeared in 2012 and most of the ice that once occupied it melted in the last three years. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. Dragon skin occurs when strong winds continually lift surface ice, subsequently freezing the water below. Thanks to this nearly Manhattan-size gap in the ice, the entire glacier along with the surrounding ice sheet will likely disappear much more quickly. Weird Google Earth images appear to show a giant "dome" rammed in the ice and it's sent conspiracy theorists wild. He then zoomed in on the neck vertebra, whose ends are shot through with pneumatophores, the holes through which air sacs once entered the bones interior. Maybe not a spooky as the rest of the creepy facts about Antarctica on this list. The new year once started in Marchhere's why, Jimmy Carter on the greatest challenges of the 21st century, This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean, How cosmic rays helped find a tunnel in Egypt's Great Pyramid, Who first rode horses? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Heres the science.). Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, This empress was the most dangerous woman in Rome. Learn about the anatomical features that made their flight possible, how large some of these creatures grew, and which species was named after a vampire legend. The noisy red and blue part in the bottom corner comes from ice breaking off into the sea. The ultimate action-packed science and technology magazine bursting with exciting information about the universe, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with checkout code 'LOVE5', Engaging articles, amazing illustrations & exclusive interviews, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. Again, while it isnt the most immediately terrifying phenomenon, these crazy things found in Antarctica are still unnerving. Regardless, sometimes you might get lucky and find some Antarctica mythical creatures. Now, this enormous species of giant pterosaur part of a group known as azhdarchids finally has a name: Cryodrakon boreas, drawing from the ancient Greek words that translate to "cold dragon of the north winds." What if we could clean them out? This constant uplift and formation of ice results in a scale-like appearance, giving the sea ice its dragon nickname. He added: "I dont know if this recently thawed and this has been frozen for thousands of years or if this is something new. The 27 scientists from eight countries aboard the ship are researching Antarctic polynya, which are areaswhere ice forms rapidly due to "katabatic" winds, which can hit hurricane strengths. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. Still, one that has been making the rounds recently is the discovery of supposed pyramids as one of the strange things found in Antarctica, remnants of an ancient civilization.. Can we bring a species back from the brink? When does spring start? While not part of the same family, the underwater Sea Spiders youll find here are some of the strangest things found in Antarctica to date! MrMBB333 has previously posted videos of 'mysterious' Google Maps in Antarctica, including what he alleged was a huge man-made disc emerging from the snow in the region. The "dragon-skin" sighting was an early highlight of the expedition, because the rare ice formation had not been seen in Antarctica since 2007, the researchers said. But the question of how these animals get food will have to wait until another scientific expedition can visit the spot, perhaps equipped with a remotely operated underwater vehicle that can recover samples of the animals. With 170 of its 300-odd bones preserved, this scientifically important but privately owned skeleton is currently at the Museum fr Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. Nearly all of these have been found since 1976. The main reference fossil for Cryodrakon belonged to an individual pterosaur that had a roughly 16-foot wingspan. Antarctica is an ice covered continent. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The sea spiders rock! The remains first gained notoriety for their scars.
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