Video shows rocky cliff in Antarctica, not giant tree stump | Fact check
The claim: Video shows giant tree stump in Antarctica
A Feb. 17 video (direct link, archive link) posted on Threads shows a helicopter flying over an ice shelf and arriving at an area where dark cliff faces stick out of the ice sheet. The helicopter lands at a building located on one of the cliff faces.
"Giant Tree stump in Antarctica from before the Flood when this terrarium’s climate was different? The Angels cut them down. Daniel 4:11-14," reads the video's caption.
The video was reposted more than 300 times in three days.
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Our rating: False
The cliff faces in the video are not tree stumps. The video shows an area in Antarctica where rocky outcroppings jut up above the ice sheet.
Video shows Antarctic base located on 'nunatak'
The building shown in the video is South Africa's SANAE IV research station, which can be seen on Google Earth. The facility is positioned on Vesleskarvet, which is a "nunatak" − a rocky outcropping that sticks out above the ice sheet, according to the South African National Antarctic Programme.
A 1993 draft environmental assessment of Vesleskarvet reported the feature was composed of mafic igneous rock estimated to be more than a billion years old. Mafic igneous rock is a material rich in specific minerals that forms when magma cools. The site is not a tree stump.
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It is unclear if the video in the post is authentic or digitally generated.
Paste BN reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
- Britannica, accessed Feb. 19, Mafic rock
- Department of Environmental Affairs Republic of South Africa, accessed Feb. 19, Draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation of the Proposed new SANAE IV facility at Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica
- South African National Antarctic Programme, accessed Feb. 19, SANAE IV Antarctica
- Google Earth, accessed Feb. 19, SANAE IV
- South African National Antarctic Programme, accessed Feb. 19, The SANAE IV Station
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