Because we are a species with An ever-shrinking attention spanIt can be hard to understand how long human life has existed on Earth. Try to understand this: Scientists discovered DNA fragments dating back one million years.
Found beneath the floor of the Scotia Sea, north of the Antarctic, these fragments of organic material can be invaluable in charting the history of the region – mapping out what has lived in the ocean and across what kind of time spans.
Technically, it is called SedaDNA – for sedimentary ancient DNA – the recovered samples are likely to prove useful in the ongoing efforts to understand how Climate ChangeAntarctica could be affected in the future
“This includes the oldest authenticated marine.” SedaDNA to date,” says marine ecologist Linda ArmbrechtThe University of Tasmania in Australia.
SedaThere are many places where DNA can be found, including in nature. terrestrial caves Permafrost from the subarcticThese have produced SedaThe DNA dates back to 400,000 and 650,000 years respectively.
The Scotia Sea is a great place to be if you are looking for polar marine environments. It has low oxygen and cold temperatures. SedaWe just need to discover DNA so it doesn’t get destroyed.
The 2019 extraction of DNA from the ocean floor resulted in a rigorous contamination control process that ensured the accuracy of the age markers.
Diatoms (single-celled organisms), were also found by the team. They date back to 540,000 BC. All of this helps us to understand how the world evolved over large periods of time.
The team was able to link diatom abundance to warmer periods – the last of which in the Scotia Sea was around 14,500 years ago. It led to an increase overall marine life activity throughout the Antarctica region.
“This is a fascinating and important change associated with a global and rapid rise in sea levels, and massive loss of Antarctica’s ice due to natural warmth.” says geologist Michael WeberThe University of Bonn, Germany.
The latest study shows that these are the facts. SedaThe use of DNA techniques to reconstruct ecosystems over hundreds of thousands of year can help us gain a new understanding of how the oceans have changed.
Scientists are improving their ability to remove these ancient DNA fragments and the interference caused by modern DNA. This allows them to have a true look into the past.
Knowing more about the past climate shifts, and how the ocean ecosystem responded, allows for more accurate predictions and models of what may happen around the South Pole in the future.
The researchers write in their paper, “Antarctica” is one of the most susceptible regions to climate change. They urge us to examine the past and future responses of the polar marine eco-system to environmental change. Published paper.
The research was published in Nature Communications.
