On Signy Island off the coast of Antarctica, moss grows so thick that scientists drilled moss cores of moss growing on top of moss growing on top of moss growing on top of permafrost (permanently frozen soil) with older moss frozen in it. In warmer climates, the buried moss would simply decay into brown, mucky peat, but that doesn't happen in very cold locales. The moss in the permafrost was over 1,500 years old (determined by carbon dating), and when scientists sliced the core open and incubated some moss from the core, new moss grew! Peter Convey, the study co-author, said, "We can't be certain there is no contamination, but we have very strong circumstantial evidence. Under a microscope, you can see the new shoot growing out of the old shoot. It is very firmly connected."
This is the first time any plant or mammal has survived more than a couple decades being frozen, and the finding may mean that ice could possibly survive under a glacier until it retreats or melts, and then recolonizes the bare soil that is left.
http://www.livescience.com/44134-old-frozen-antarctic-moss-regrows.html
This is the first time any plant or mammal has survived more than a couple decades being frozen, and the finding may mean that ice could possibly survive under a glacier until it retreats or melts, and then recolonizes the bare soil that is left.
http://www.livescience.com/44134-old-frozen-antarctic-moss-regrows.html
Photo credit: P. Boelen