Rocks can be many things: they were probably our earliest weapons, they've been ballast on our journeys of exploration, even modern-art pieces. But a pair recovered from Antarctica may be the grandest application yet - tombstones for an entire world. Lunar and Planetary Institute researcher Allain Treiman believes that them to be pieces of a destroyed dwarf planet, relics from the creation of the solar system.
Rocks can be many things: they were probably our earliest weapons,
they've been ballast on our journeys of exploration, even modern-art
pieces. But a pair recovered from Antarctica may be the grandest
application yet - tombstones for an entire world. Lunar and Planetary
Institute researcher Allain Treiman believes that them to be pieces of
a destroyed dwarf planet, relics from the creation of the solar system.
It's relevant to questions so important that most adults don't think to
ask them - why are there only eight planets? Or nine, or however many
there are now? Why are they where they are? Because of all the
objects that formed during the birth of the solar system, the ones we
see are the ones that survived. It's likely that many small
proto-planets formed as the stellar dusts condensed into larger bodies
- some collided and merged, some may have been pinballed out of the
system by the varying gravitational fields, and it seems that some got
smashed to bits in the confusion. The existence of the asteroid belt
supports such planetary pile-ups - but we can look at these antarctic
rocks much closer.
Two British researchers contend that a volcano violently erupted around
2,000 years ago and blew a large hole through the ice sheet in West Antarctic at around the year 207 B.C., and scientists confirm
it was the largest volcanic eruption in Antarctica over the last 10,000
years. The force
of its eruption threw a plume of debris (ash, dust, and other
materials) into the atmosphere—they think it went about 7.5 miles, or
12 kilometers high—which returned to Earth as a large elliptical-shaped
layer of debris still detectable today—as a suspension within the
ice—with their powerful radar instruments.
John Priscu is a veteran of Antarctic research, having spent 23 seasons in Antarctica and building himself a reputation as an international expert on the region. He normally shares the continent with scientists from all over the world during October and December of each year.
This year is different though. This year, along with 17 members from his personal team, John will be spending two and a half months during the beginning of Antarctica’s Polar Night.
Scientists using a submersible remotely operated vehicle (ROV) have discovered Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) living and feeding down to depths of 3,500 metres in the Southern Ocean waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. Until now this shrimp-like crustacean was thought to live only in the upper ocean. The discovery completely changes scientists’ understanding of the major food source for fish, squid, penguins, seals, and whales.
Rocks can be many things: they were probably our earliest weapons, they've been ballast on our journeys of exploration, even modern-art pieces. But a pair recovered from Antarctica may be the grandest application yet - tombstones for an entire world. Lunar and Planetary Institute researcher Allain Treiman believes that them to be pieces of a destroyed dwarf planet, relics from the creation of the solar system.
Rocks can be many things: they were probably our earliest weapons,
they've been ballast on our journeys of exploration, even modern-art
pieces. But a pair recovered from Antarctica may be the grandest
application yet - tombstones for an entire world. Lunar and Planetary
Institute researcher Allain Treiman believes that them to be pieces of
a destroyed dwarf planet, relics from the creation of the solar system.
It's relevant to questions so important that most adults don't think to
ask them - why are there only eight planets? Or nine, or however many
there are now? Why are they where they are? Because of all the
objects that formed during the birth of the solar system, the ones we
see are the ones that survived. It's likely that many small
proto-planets formed as the stellar dusts condensed into larger bodies
- some collided and merged, some may have been pinballed out of the
system by the varying gravitational fields, and it seems that some got
smashed to bits in the confusion. The existence of the asteroid belt
supports such planetary pile-ups - but we can look at these antarctic
rocks much closer.
Two British researchers contend that a volcano violently erupted around
2,000 years ago and blew a large hole through the ice sheet in West Antarctic at around the year 207 B.C., and scientists confirm
it was the largest volcanic eruption in Antarctica over the last 10,000
years. The force
of its eruption threw a plume of debris (ash, dust, and other
materials) into the atmosphere—they think it went about 7.5 miles, or
12 kilometers high—which returned to Earth as a large elliptical-shaped
layer of debris still detectable today—as a suspension within the
ice—with their powerful radar instruments.
John Priscu is a veteran of Antarctic research, having spent 23 seasons in Antarctica and building himself a reputation as an international expert on the region. He normally shares the continent with scientists from all over the world during October and December of each year.
This year is different though. This year, along with 17 members from his personal team, John will be spending two and a half months during the beginning of Antarctica’s Polar Night.
Scientists using a submersible remotely operated vehicle (ROV) have discovered Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) living and feeding down to depths of 3,500 metres in the Southern Ocean waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. Until now this shrimp-like crustacean was thought to live only in the upper ocean. The discovery completely changes scientists’ understanding of the major food source for fish, squid, penguins, seals, and whales.
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