Video shows rocky cliff in Antarctica, not giant tree stump
Video shows rocky cliff in Antarctica, not giant tree stump | Fact check
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Satellite imagery tracks year-long path of world's largest iceberg
Polar orbiting satellites have tracked the world's largest iceberg since it broke free in Antarctica's Weddell Sea in early November 2023.
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.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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