Voyages of Great Discoveries Ep 5 - From Greenhouse to Icehouse: forest & dinosaur fossils amid ice

Описание: Earth scientists have the privilege and pleasure of exploring all parts of the world, from poles to tropics, from great heights to ocean depths and even beyond, in their search for the information that addresses important challenges relating to the history of the planet.

In the Voyages of Great Discoveries series, internationally recognised experts in a variety of disciplines will present accounts of their adventures in the field, followed by the joys, tribulations and indeed satisfaction experienced in the laboratory as they make the discoveries that have transformed our science.

Our public lecture series are free events that attract a diverse audience, including the public, secondary school pupils and professionals. The series aims to open up areas of interest in the Earth and environmental sciences and present new research in this area to the public.

Abstract
From Greenhouse to Icehouse: forest and dinosaur fossils amid ice sheets at the South Pole, a public lecture with Professor Dame Jane Francis, British Antarctic Survey.

The Antarctic continent has been situated over the South Pole for the past 100 million years. During that time forests, dinosaurs and penguins have lived there under warm greenhouse climates. Forests still existed near the South Pole even as the climate cooled and glaciers covered much of the continent until about 10 million years ago. Now the current Antarctic Icehouse is responding to our warming climate. What does the geological record tell us about the Antarctic landscape we might soon see in a 400ppm CO2 world?