Even though Humans have lived in the frozen north for thousands of years,
we’re still learning about the Arctic. Unlike Antarctica, you can actually walk
up into the Arctic Circle in some parts of the world, like Scandinavia and North America,
making it far more accessible. But what Arctic mysteries are we still trying to solve?
This is Unveiled, and today we’re taking a closer
look at a bizarre discovery found in the Arctic Circle.
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Back in 2018, NASA researchers were flying over the Beaufort Sea,
off the coast of Alaska and Canada. The flight was part of Operation IceBridge,
an ongoing mission to monitor how much polar ice is left each year in both the Arctic and
Antarctica. But this time when they ran the mission, scientists were baffled by
what they saw – and remember, these are experienced researchers working for NASA,
one of the most prestigious science organizations in the world. They found three strange,
circular formations in the ice, the likes of which none of them had seen before, in the
Beaufort Sea. When the images of these structures were released, they came with statements about
how unusual the icy features were, and how researchers weren’t sure what had caused them.
The most obvious explanation, and the one that is likely true, is that the holes were made by seals.
Seals are incredible creatures - deadly predators within their marine environments, surviving and
even thriving in the chilly waters of the poles. The most abundant seal in the Arctic is the ringed
seal, which is thankfully not yet threatened by hunting or climate change. Ringed seals can
hold their breath for extraordinarily long times – up to 45 minutes. This is a lot longer than some
other species. Leopard seals, for instance, those dangerous Antarctic predators, can only hold their
breath for 15 minutes; still impressive but not on the same level as the ringed seal. But ringed
seals do something else that other seal species don’t, as well: they break through thin ice sheets
with their clawed flippers to create breathing holes. It’s then thought that the strange circles
NASA spotted might be seal breathing holes - which are actually very familiar to people living in
the Arctic or studying it. But what’s strange is that this particular region of sea ice had
never had seal holes in it before, which led to an unpleasant conclusion: that the ice here was
much thinner than it should be, enabling the seals to break through where they previously couldn’t.
This is almost certainly because Arctic waters are getting warmer, which gets worse the more
the ice melts – though, again, a small silver lining is that seal species don’t appear to be
suffering because of it. While they are adapted for very cold water, they can live adequately in
warmer places; for example, down in the southern hemisphere, one leopard seal named Owha is a local
celebrity around New Zealand, having inexplicably left Antarctica to live there instead.
But, back to the north, and around the Arctic ice holes you’ll see some further strange markings.
Again, though, they can be explained. They’re thought to simply be from the ringed seals
splashing as they rise through the holes to catch their breath. But this isn’t the only possibility;
other things, like the movement of the ice as different ice sheets collide could also cause
strange things to appear. And, what’s more, geology may be to blame. Because the seas
are heating up and this particular area is quite shallow, some NASA researchers
blamed “warm springs” bursting through the ice sheet - no seals needed. But,
the fact is that we still don’t have a definite explanation for what the strange circles are,
and we might never have seen them at all if not for Operation IceBridge conducting regular
surveys. What do you think is going on here? Seal impact, shifting landscapes, or something else?
It isn’t the first time that bizarre, geological features have been found in the Arctic, either.
Unusual rock circles were spotted in the region way back in 2003, with photographs showing dozens
of well-formed shapes in the ground. But what made them? Surely a series of perfect circles
can’t be the result of natural processes? But, actually, they ARE a result of natural processes,
with the precise patterns appearing because the ground has frozen and thawed time and time again
for tens of thousands of years. It's fascinating how we (humankind) can see things like this and
assume they may have been made by an intelligent mind - perhaps even that they’re messages left by
ancient humans that have survived for thousands of years. But, in many cases, these bizarre sightings
were actually made by Earth’s own geology. Similar occurrences have been found all over the world -
from the Arctic to Australia and Kenya - all part of a phenomenon called “patterned ground”, and
all created by various mechanisms. Patterns like these have even been noted on the surface of Mars.
More broadly, we often see geological features that we want to ascribe meaning to – this is just
something that humans apparently do. For example, yet another interesting land feature is the
Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, a coastal region full of hexagonal, basalt columns. In myth,
it’s said that the Causeway was really built by a giant, who wanted to cross the sea to reach
Scotland, where there was a rival giant he wanted to fight. But unusual as the columns appear to be,
they’re also (again) completely natural, created via volcanic activity thousands of years ago.
Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t ancient structures out there that WERE built by humans.
And, in the Arctic Circle, as well. Indigenous people have lived in the Arctic for thousands
of years, and further back, some other human species like the Neanderthals and Denisovans
also lived in cold areas like Siberia. Scientists and explorers have found mummies and remains to
prove it. Furthermore, during antiquity, the Ancient Greeks and Romans were said to be aware
of a civilization much, much further north than the Mediterranean Sea. The name they then gave to
this potential society was “Thule”, although even today, scholars aren’t sure exactly where Thule
was. It may have been on the Shetland Islands north of the United Kingdom, or it could have been
spread across islands that today belong to Norway or Estonia. An yet, it is believed that some
ancient explorers, like Pytheas of Massalia, may have successfully crossed into the Arctic Circle,
possibly describing the icy sea as “curdled”. If they did arrive in the Arctic, then some of those
earliest sailors might never have seen ice like the Arctic’s ever before… once again contributing
to the confusion and mystery surrounding what (and where) Thule was, because chroniclers were at a
loss to describe it. Indeed, some suggested it was an entire, huge island far north of Great Britain,
while others said it was further to the northwest, meaning it could have been what today is Iceland.
To circle back, then, might there yet be more reasons as to why those holes in the Arctic ice
weren’t noticed until recently - involving not the mechanism by which they were made,
but how they were discovered. Sometimes, aerial photography is necessary to find
all sorts of things that are otherwise invisible. Down in Antarctica, for example,
an underwater lake and river system was found only after looking at satellite photography
that clearly showed depressions in the ice made by those water systems. In warmer climes,
entire lost cities have also been discovered through aerial photography. For example,
in recent years we’ve seen the discovery of a lost city in Bolivia, deep in the Amazon Rainforest.
Without the ability to conduct surveys from the air, we may never have unearthed that city,
because the forest was so dense and overgrown that it would have been impossible to reach from
the ground. So, could methods like this one day uncover the truth of what ancient Thule was really
like? Perhaps it had a much larger population than currently believed. Some researchers believe that
it traded vital materials with the Roman Empire, so it must have had a developed society. But
the mysterious people that lived there, perhaps 2,000 years ago, remain elusive and unknowable.
Today, we have the strange appearance of holes in the arctic ice, but also a choice of solid
theories to explain them - most notably as the creations of local seals. But,
what do you think? Could there be something else afoot? Another possibility for this surprising
display of geometry? And, if we can home in on just a couple shapes on the landscape,
then is it about time that we finally uncovered the truth surrounding other
Arctic mysteries - like the where, when and who of Ancient Thule?
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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