Booth Id:
EAEV010
Category:
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Year:
2022
Finalist Names:
Koivutalu , Rhea (School: Tallinn Secondary School of Science)
Abstract:
The woolly mammoth is a species which went extinct at the end of the last ice age. They lived in tundra-steppe and were spread over Eurasia and northwest North-America. As a result of fast climate changes the usual habitat was negated and mammoth populations became small and fragmented. Extinction was also triggered by hunting (for food and collection of bones) and bone diseases (softening of the bones).
Within the course of the research paper four new Estonian woolly mammoth remains were dated: two molars and two tusks. The samples were taken with a corded drill and sent to the Poznan Radiocarbon Laboratory. The dates were the following (in years): TRK tooth - 32380+440; Vitipalu tooth - 42500+710; Kruudner tusk - 43560+1160; Kukemetsa tusk - 39190+830.
Hypothesis about TRK (about 30,000 y.o) and Vitipalu (between 12,000 and 40,000 y.o) teeth were confirmed, but other remains turned out to be a bit older than 40,000 years. Consequently, in the period of 30,000 - 46,000 years ago there were many mammoths in Estonia.
A sediment from west Siberia was examined with a stereo microscope. The sediment was 40,000 - 50,000 years old and mammoth remains were earlier found from the same layer. Families Carnation and Grasses; genus Pondweed, Ranunculus, Carex and Goosefoot (Chenopodium) were found from the sample. When compared to Voka (Estonia) research species like Grasses, Sedges and Goosefoots were present in both, which confirmed the hypothesis. This indicates the habitat of steppe which is a suitable habitat for the mammoth.
The period of mammoth extinction is comparable to the present fast climate change. Research of the species lifestyle and habitat gives us knowledge for predicting the consequences of present day events and extinction of species.