Researchers Identified Ancient Antarctic Wildfires
A study found evidence of fires in a 90-million-year-old Antarctic rainforest, the southernmost ever recorded.
Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Geography
Live Poll
Is the risk of wildfires and peatland degradation increasing in your region?
Scientists analyzing a sediment core from the Amundsen Sea discovered charcoal and amber from wildfires that occurred 90 million years ago. These findings indicate that ancient Antarctica hosted a temperate rainforest environment.
Why it matters
The evidence suggests that frequent lightning-triggered fires played a critical role in shaping the regional ecosystem by maintaining open vegetation and facilitating the development of ancient peatlands.
Researchers used microscopic analysis on sediment cores recovered from the Amundsen Sea to identify charcoal and amber. The samples originated from conifer wood and date back 90 million years to the Late Cretaceous period.
The players
Nature
This is a prominent weekly international scientific journal that publishes peer-reviewed research across all fields of science and technology.
Communications Earth and Environment
This is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes high-quality research and reviews in the fields of Earth, environmental, and planetary sciences.
The details
The region was once a temperate, swampy rainforest that experienced four months of darkness annually. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were four to six times higher than today, which allowed wetlands to dry and become susceptible to lightning-triggered blazes.
Timeline
90 million years ago: Wildfires burned in Antarctic rainforests.
2020: Researchers published initial expedition results in Nature.
2026: The current study was published in Communications Earth and Environment.
The Big Picture
This discovery shifts our understanding of Cretaceous climate dynamics by confirming that fire was a recurring feature of polar ecosystems. It builds upon the 2020 expedition results published in Nature to further define the ecological complexity of the ancient South Pole.
Understanding these ancient fire cycles helps climate researchers build more accurate models for predicting how current vegetation and peatlands respond to atmospheric carbon dioxide changes. These models provide essential data for evaluating the long-term impact of rising global temperatures.
The takeaway
Ancient Antarctica was a vastly different landscape shaped by fire and high carbon levels rather than modern ice sheets. These findings highlight how sensitive polar environments are to changes in global climate drivers.
Further reading
For more on how environmental history shapes our world, explore the Geography section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by INSIDENOVA.
Live Poll
Is the risk of wildfires and peatland degradation increasing in your region?
