Why have the wooly mammoths remained frozen in the Arctic area for ten thousand years?

Question

The muscle striations can still be seen under the microscope! Daisies have been found in frozen mammoths mouths! How could something that huge be so quick frozen and then never unfreeze in ten thousand years?
All the hoards of mammoths were totally wiped out in an instant.
Marco Polo reported caravans of Chinese hauling mammoth tusks from the North.

Answer 1

"The remains of the Mammoths became fossilized or preserved only after they were rapidly buried under mud or ice. This rapid burial is the result of an animal falling through thin ice (on a lake, pond, or river) and becoming trapped or possibly by being buried in a mud flow. This quick burial is essential to prevent either scavengers or decay from destroying the once living tissue or bone material. Next the element of time would take over to further preserve the organic remains. The number of Mammoths fossilized represents only a small number of individuals that lived during that time. Most would have died in areas not suitable for preservation. Mammoths that lived in what is now present day Siberia are found remarkably preserved, almost completely intact, still frozen in ice remaining from the last Ice Age. These rather unique requirements are why only a small percentage of Mammoths have been fossilized or preserved."

Answer 2

Freezing in sub-zero temperatures takes less time than decay.

It is important to understand that the animals that have been found, while in AMAZING condition, are not perfect. They have decayed SOME, it is just that the temperatures have stayed low enough that once they were frozen, in the process of being decayed (a process SEVERELY slowed by the cold), they have stayed cold enough (most of the time at least) to keep tissues relatively intact.

Also, the hoards of mammoths were NOT wiped out in an instant, they went extinct over time, likely with help from us.

There are STILL people harvesting mammoth tusks in the north although these days they are much less available these days, as the areas have been pretty well picked over by now.

Answer 3

I don't know jack about wooly mammoths but the whole 'instantaneously freezing' scenario seems about as probable as that goofy movie from a few years ago about climate change occurring so fast people were frozen in mid-stride as they were running for shelter and warmth. Has anyone with credentials in any scientific field seriously suggested that this happened in the past? I'm not aware of anyone saying that, but like I said, I don't know jack about wooly mammoths. It just seems far more likely to me that the mammoth(s) in question could have succumbed to heart failure or any number of maladies (other than smoking or getting hit by an SUV on Mars) while in mid-chew, including slipping into a hole in the ground and getting knocked unconcious, then suffocating. I also don't know that anyone has claimed that 1 degree of warming in 100 years is dire and unprecedented. From what I understand about climate change the concern is what is influencing this change, the speed with which it appears to be accelerating and the regional/seasonal impacts. I'm sure curious about it and no one is stepping up to the plate with a better explanation than mankind's recent activities. I wish someone would, I really like my V8s.

Answer 4

Who the hell knows, but why are u so interested in these creatures??? I also find it odd that my neighbor has a statue of a momma and baby Wooly Mammoth in his front yard. Oh my God, I wonder if you're my neighbor. Are you Persian by any chance? I would like to meet you; you seem to be a very interesting person. Your question / commentary on Wooly Mammoths, of all subjects, is hilarious! If you would like, please feel free to email me.

Answer 5

Maybe they were caught in an avalanche or something. And then they had one of those arctic blasts that lasted for 100 years or something. Oh I suppose it's still frozen so it lasted longer than that. Any way it gives way to the question - what else might be frozen down there?

Answer 6

the few found fully frozen were probably buried in avalanches.
no all wooly mammoths did not die out in one instant, look it up.
of the 100 or so wooly mammoth remains discovered, most died between 1million and 10000 years ago.

Answer 7

cuase they were covered with snow and ice where they died