Судлаачид агуйн нөхцөл байдал амьтны ясанд хэрхэн нөлөөлдгийг тайлбарлах шинэ аргыг боловсрууллаа.
Австралийн Гриффитийн их сургуулийн судлаачид Өмнөд Австралийн Маунт Гамбир орчмын усан доорх “Green Waterhole” болон “Gouldens Sinkhole” агуйгаас олдсон яснуудад шинжилгээ хийжээ. Тэд эдгээр олдворт үлдсэн хүрээлэн буй орчны ул мөрийг “хурууны хээ” хэмээн нэрлэж, тэдгээр нь ус, гэрэл, бичил биетэн болон бусад хүчин зүйлийн нөлөөгөөр хэрхэн өөрчлөгдсөнийг судалсан байна.
Судалгааны баг ясны байрлал, гадаргын нарийн бүтэц, химийн найрлага болон эртний эсүүдэд хадгалагдсан уургийн бүтцийг цогцоор нь шинжилжээ. Усан доорх агуйн гэрэлтэй хэсэгт замаг болон ургамал ясан дээр ургаж ул мөрөө үлдээдэг бол гүн харанхуй хэсэгт олдворууд харьцангуй цэвэр хэвээр хадгалагддаг болохыг тогтоов. Энэхүү үр дүнг хуурай агуйн яснуудтай харьцуулахад бактери болон ургамлын үндсээр гэмтсэн шинж тэмдэг илэрч, эрс ялгаатай байжээ.
Тэргүүлэгч судлаач Мэг Уолкерын тайлбарласнаар, энэхүү шинэ аргачлал нь сүүлийн үеийн амьтдын ясан дээрх өөрчлөлтийг судлах замаар эртний аварга амьтдын олдворуудыг тайлбарлахад туслах юм. Австралийн Агуйд шумбагчдын холбооны мэргэжилтнүүдтэй хамтран цуглуулсан эдгээр олдвор нь тухайн бүс нутагт амьдарч байсан амьтдын амьдралын төгсгөл болон тэдний үлдэгдэл усан доорх орчинд хэрхэн хуримтлагдсаныг ойлгох боломжийг олгож байна.
Энэхүү судалгааны арга нь археологич болон палеонтологичдод усан доорх агуй гэх мэт хүндрэлтэй нөхцөлд эртний түүхийг сэргээн босгоход чухал ач холбогдолтой юм. Судлаачид олдворт хадгалагдсан химийн болон биологийн ул мөрийг ашигласнаар эртний экосистемийн нөхцөл байдлыг илүү тодорхой болгох боломжтой гэж үзэж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Bones hidden in underwater caves in South Australia are giving scientists a new way to understand how extinct giant animals ended up in these unusual environments. Researchers have found that the bones carry “fingerprints” left by their surroundings, revealing how they were preserved and changed over time.
The study, led by Griffith University, looks at the marks left on animal remains inside submerged caves. These clues can show whether bones were affected by light, water, microorganisms, or other environmental factors after they entered the underground system.
For years, scientists have struggled to understand how fossil remains build up in underwater caves. Unlike dry ones, these submerged sites create complex conditions that can protect bones while also leaving behind specific traces that need to be decoded.
The research team studied bones from Green Waterhole and Gouldens Sinkhole, two underwater cave systems near Mount Gambier, South Australia. As reported by the study team, the researchers combined several approaches, examining everything from the position of bones in the caves to tiny surface details, chemical elements, and preserved proteins.
Bones Reveal Their Hidden Underwater Past
Researchers reported their findings in PLOS One, showing that underwater caves can preserve animal remains extremely well. Many bones kept their original shape and even fine surface details, giving scientists a chance to study what happened after the animals died. The researchers discovered that different parts of underwater caves leave different marks. Conditions near the entrances are not the same as those found deep underground, and bones record these differences.
In areas where sunlight could still reach the water, algae and other plants sometimes grew directly on the bones. These organisms left recognizable traces that showed the remains had spent time in a brighter aquatic environment. Farther inside the underground chambers, where darkness is permanent, plants could not survive. The bones found there often remained much cleaner, with fewer changes to their surfaces.
The team also compared underwater cave bones with remains from dry caves. The differences were easy to spot. Dry cave bones showed signs of land-based activity, including damage from bacteria and grooves created by plant roots.
According to Meg Walker, the lead researcher, the team used radiocarbon-dated bones to follow how skeletons accumulated and changed in underwater caves over decades and centuries. Researchers then examined how these remains differed from those found in dry cave environments.
“Using a range of methods, from the macro to the micro, we looked at features associated with wet and dry caves. Things like spatial distributions of the bones and their surfaces, down to elemental compositions and proteins trapped in ancient cells,” she said in a statement.
Modern Bones Reveal Ancient Giants
To understand older fossil deposits, researchers first studied more recent animal remains. The passages contained bones from many species, including kangaroos, emus, cows, sheep, pigs, dingoes, rabbits, possums, quolls, and swamp rats.
Some of these remains may date back to the arrival of the first Europeans and the creation of the local settlement during the 1840s. These younger bones provided a useful reference point for understanding how animals can become trapped or deposited in underwater caves.
By studying how these remains changed, scientists can improve their interpretation of much older discoveries linked to extinct megafauna. The same types of clues could help explain how giant prehistoric animals ended up in underwater cave systems.
The research also relied on the work of specialist cave divers from the Cave Divers Association of Australia, who collected samples from the submerged sites. Their access to these difficult environments allowed researchers to examine bones that would otherwise remain out of reach.
A New Way To Decode Fossil Bones
This new study is changing how scientists analyze ancient remains recovered from underwater caves. Rather than looking only at the bones themselves, researchers can now examine the surface marks, chemical signals, and biological traces preserved over time. Meg Walker explained that the “new framework” provides scientists with a clearer method to understand how megafauna fossils formed, changed, and survived in submerged environments.
The approach could help researchers reveal more about ancient ecosystems and the conditions that surrounded extinct animals after their disappearance. The preserved remains contain evidence of what happened after death, including interactions with water, chemical changes, and other natural processes that helped protect them inside flooded cave systems.
“It will provide archaeologists and palaeontologists worldwide with a powerful new tool for reconstructing past environments and histories in these challenging conditions.”
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