Like us like Attention continues to declineHowever, it is difficult to understand how long life has existed on Earth. But try to reverse the situation: scientists have unearthed DNA fragments dating back a million years.
These fragments of organic matter are found beneath the bottom of the Sea of Scotland, north of Antarctica, and are invaluable in tracing the history of the region, tracing what has lived in the oceans and over time.
Technically referred to as HIVThe recovered DNA samples – for ancient sedimentary DNA – are likely to prove useful in ongoing efforts to understand how Climate change It could affect Antarctica in the future.
“This includes the oldest certified ocean liner HIVDNA so far Marine ecologist Linda Armbrecht says: of the University of Tasmania in Australia.
HIVDNA is found in many environments, including underground cave And subarctic ice sheetpaid HIVThe history of DNA dates back to 400,000 and 650,000 years respectively.
Low temperatures, low oxygen levels and a lack of ultraviolet radiation make polar marine environments such as the Sea of Scotland a beautiful place HIVThe DNA remains intact, just waiting for us to find it.
The recovered DNA was extracted from the sea floor in 2019 and underwent a comprehensive pollution control process to ensure the accuracy of the age markers incorporated into the material.
Among other findings, the team found diatoms (single-celled organisms) that are 540,000 years old. All of this helps to give us an idea of how this part of the world has evolved over a very long period of time.
The team was able to link the abundance of diatoms to warmer periods – the most recent in the Scots Sea some 14,500 years ago. This increases the overall activity of marine life across the Antarctic region.
“This is an exciting and important change associated with rapid global sea level rise and massive ice loss in Antarctica due to natural warming.” Geologist Michael Weber says: of the University of Bonn in Germany.
This latest study is proof of this HIVDNA technology could play an important role in rebuilding ecosystems over hundreds of thousands of years, providing us with new insights into how the oceans are changing.
Scientists are constantly improving at removing ancient DNA fragments from the Earth and removing the “noise” and interference left behind by all the modern DNA that has existed since in order to gain an authentic view of the past.
Understanding more about past climate change and how marine ecosystems have responded means more accurate models and predictions of what might happen next in Antarctica.
“Antarctica is one of the most vulnerable regions on Earth to climate change and studying the past and present reactions of these polar marine ecosystems to environmental change is a pressing issue,” the researchers write in the paper. published articles.
Research published in Natural connection.
