Scientists Say Antarctica’s Lost ‘Supermountains’ May Have Fueled an Explosion of Life on Earth
The Cambrian explosion brought exactly that to Earth—an “explosion” of life that kickstarted the evolution of animals as we know them. Scientists have come up with a myriad of theories to explain this phenomenon, such as a recent paper on a literal sh*t-ton of poop. And here’s now another odd idea: gigantic Antarctic mountains that eroded millions of years ago.
- ▪The Cambrian explosion brought exactly that to Earth—an “explosion” of life that kickstarted the evolution of animals as we know them.
- ▪Scientists have come up with a myriad of theories to explain this phenomenon, such as a recent paper on a literal sh*t-ton of poop.
- ▪And here’s now another odd idea: gigantic Antarctic mountains that eroded millions of years ago.
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| Original publisher | Gizmodo |
| Canonical URL | https://gizmodo.com/scientists-say-antarcticas-lost-supermountains-may-have-fueled-an-explosion-of-life-on-earth-2000817008 |
| Publication time | Thu, 24 Sep 2026 21:05:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-24T21:10:26.735Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-24T21:10:26.735Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Cluster | YyuIkvNdaKy1 · 1 stories |
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| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
The Cambrian explosion brought exactly that to Earth—an “explosion” of life that kickstarted the evolution of animals as we know them. Scientists have come up with a myriad of theories to explain this phenomenon, such as a recent paper on a literal sh*t-ton of poop. And here’s now another odd idea: gigantic Antarctic mountains that eroded millions of years ago. To be exact, a new analysis of zircon particles from Antarctica strongly suggests that the barren lands once hosted an enormous mountain range. As these ancient mountains eroded over the years, they would have shed nutrients that fed organisms at the very bottom of the food chain. Their photosynthesis sparked a huge leap in atmospheric oxygen, which was good news for more complex organisms—and the rest is history.
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