Ice Age Permafrost Found 400 Metres Below Polish Countryside

The news in Polish

1. region  (m.)
   obszar geograficzny lub administracyjny wyróżniający się określonymi cechami ↩︎
2. głębokość  (f.)
   odległość mierzona od powierzchni w dół ↩︎
3. temperatura  (f.)
   miara stopnia ciepła lub zimna czegoś, mierzona np. w stopniach Celsjusza ↩︎
4. wynosić
   być równym pewnej wartości lub ilości ↩︎
5. epoka  (f.)
   długi okres w historii lub dziejach Ziemi wyróżniający się określonymi cechami ↩︎
6. lodowcowy
   związany z lodem lub lodowcem, odnoszący się do okresu, gdy duże obszary Ziemi były pokryte lodem ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: How deep below the surface was the cold permafrost found?

Question 2: Approximately how old is the cold found underground?

Vocabulary

Polish	English
region  (m.)	region
głębokość  (f.)	depth
temperatura  (f.)	temperature
wynosić	to amount to
epoka  (f.)	epoch
lodowcowy	glacial

Read the full story

Beneath the quiet rural landscape of north-eastern Poland lies one of Europe’s most remarkable geological secrets: a relic of the last Ice Age, preserved nearly 400 metres underground and estimated to be around 13,000 years old.

The phenomenon is located in the Suwałki region, an area of eastern Poland that, geologically speaking, has more in common with Siberia than its temperate surroundings might suggest. Here, layers of rock grow colder as you descend — the opposite of what normally happens inside the Earth’s crust.

Geologists first became aware of this anomaly in the 1970s, when surveys near the villages of Udryn and Szypliszki revealed that rock temperatures decreased with depth rather than increased. A scientific explanation was not attempted until 2002, when Dr Jan Szewczyk of the State Geological Institute put forward the hypothesis that the cause was the prolonged influence of glaciation — the most recent of which retreated from the area roughly 13,000 years ago. He also noted that the local bedrock contains a specific type of rock called anorthosite, which acts as a heat-free insulator lying relatively close to the surface.

Drilling to verify the hypothesis took another eight years. In July 2010, researchers completed a borehole reaching 450 metres in depth. Early readings, taken before the borehole had thermally stabilised, already generated excitement: at a depth of 357 metres, the temperature dropped to just +1.2°C. Once the borehole stabilised, the results became even more striking. At 398 metres, researchers extracted exceptionally pure, low-mineralisation water at a temperature of only 1.9°C. A few days later, a temperature of just +0.07°C was recorded — effectively zero, within the margin of measurement accuracy.

The full thermal profile confirmed the presence of relict permafrost in a transitional state between ice and liquid water. The Suwałki permafrost is considered extraordinary not because it is the coldest place on Earth, but because at such a depth it is unnaturally cold for the European continent — a frozen remnant of the last glacial period.

Unlike permafrost in Alaska or Canada, the Suwałki permafrost is entirely invisible above ground. The only physical reminder of the historic drilling project is a modest valve standing at the site. Geology enthusiasts who have visited the location have noted on Google Maps the complete absence of any information board or educational sign, leaving this extraordinary site largely unknown and unmarked among the forests of the Suwałki region.