National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Oldest Ice in North America Hints at Hardy Tundra


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The oldest ice ever found in North America shows that Earth's permafrost—frozen soil found in polar regions—is more resilient to global warming than previously thought, according to a September 2008 study.

Scientists discovered 740,000-year-old ice wedges (one of the wedges, above) underneath volcanic ash in a mining area of Canada's Yukon Territory.

Photograph courtesy Duane Froese