Home to the south pole, Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. According to British Antarctic Survey, mean winter temperatures are between -10°C and -60°C. But has it always been icy?
Has Antarctica ever been ice-free?
Not only has Antarctica not always been covered in ice, but it hasn’t always been at the South Pole. Today, the continent is almost entirely buried under 2km of ice that locks up more than half of the world’s freshwater, but in times past it has straddled the equator.
We have found enough fossils to know that great forests grew there during the Cretaceous period (145-66 million years ago). Until 50 million years ago, Antarctica was still connected to Australia, and until 30 million years ago, to South America. It is thought that marsupials originated in the Americas and then dispersed to Australia via Antarctica.