01/26/2025
North of YNP — Scientists recently came across dozens of dead whitebark pine trees on Wyoming's Beartooth Plateau that had been preserved beneath an ice patch for thousands of years. Radiocarbon dating revealed that the pines were around 5,900 years old. Because they were in such good condition, they were likely covered in ice quickly some 5,500 years ago as temperatures cooled due to volcanic eruptions blocking the sunlight, and they were only revealed as the patch melted in recent years. Learn more about this "time capsule" of the Rocky Mountain ecosystem: https://inter.st/tck9
