Melbourne

Scientists have found tree trunks buried underneath the ground in a place on Earth where no trees have grown in a long time. The Falkland Islands are known to be almost barren, barring some shrubs and other low-lying vegetation reported. 

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The trunks were nearly 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the ground and Dr. Zoë Thomas, a lecturer in physical geography at the UK’s University of Southampton, picked some of them up. 

Thomas, the lead author of the study, said, "We thought that’s really weird because one of the things about the Falklands that everyone knows about is that no trees grow."

“It’s very sort of windswept and barren.”

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She says the tree remains were extremely preserved. However, she was sure that they weren't recent remnants as trees are not known to grow in the region. 

“The idea that they’d found tree trunks and branches made us think how old can this stuff be? We were pretty sure that no trees had grown there in a long time,” she added.

Turns out, these ancient tree fossils were much older than they initially thought. 

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Writing in the journal Antarctic Science, Thomas and her team believe that the discovery proves that a temperate rainforest once existed in the Falklands. 

Also Read: Giant carnivorous dinosaurs roamed freezing Australian region when it was part of Antarctica

The real story of the tree remains unfolded when the team started radiocarbon dating to determine their age. The process can determine the age of organic matter up to 50,000 years old. But, in the case of these tree fossils, the method failed as they proved to be too old. 

They then studied microscopic pollen and spores found in the peat. For this, the remains were taken to Australia’s University of New South Wales where an electron microscope could produce detailed images of the wood. 

Upon analysing the spores, the team concluded the tree trunks and branches were between 15 million and 30 million years old.

They also determined the conditions in which these trees grew. Millions of years ago, the rainforest on the Falklands must have been similar to modern Patagonia, wetter and warmer.

The researchers also tried to understand why trees don't grow in the Falklands because they are found at the same latitude in South America. They theorise that the strong winds and the acidic peat-rich soil might be reasons for it being almost barren.