The Little Engineers

Listen to Today's Edition:

Scientists recently found the world’s oldest inhabited termite mounds along the Buffels River in Namaqualand, South Africa, dating back an astonishing 34,000 years.

Locally named “heuweltjies” – or “little hills” in Afrikaans – these prehistoric structures are inhabited by the southern harvester termite, Microhodotermes viator and give scientists an amazing glimpse into what shaped the world then.

“These termite mounds were already ancient when woolly mammoths still roamed the Earth,” lead author Michele Francis said in a statement. “During the Last Glacial Maximum, around 20,000 years ago, massive ice sheets covered parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. These mounds were already thousands of years old by then, providing a living archive of environmental conditions that shaped our world.”

Radiocarbon dating of organic carbon within the mounds shows ages between 13,000 and 19,000 years, while carbonate dates to 34,000 years, making them the oldest active termite mounds ever dated, according to a new study.

Francis and her colleagues explained that the structures are not just an example of termite engineering and persistence: Found in an area that covers around 20 percent of Namaqualand’s landscape, each mound harbors around 15 tons of carbon, Live Science noted.

The team explained that the industrious termites are masters at carbon sequestration.

They do this by injecting younger organic material deep into their nests, preserving soil carbon reservoirs. The calcareous mounds also undergo chemical processes during heavy rains, converting atmospheric carbon dioxide into long-term storage.

The ancient mounds also provide insights into prehistoric climate conditions, revealing a much wetter climate in the region during their formation. This wetter environment allowed minerals like calcite and gypsum to dissolve and move into the groundwater, a process crucial for understanding natural carbon sequestration.

“By studying these mounds, scientists can gain a better understanding of how to combat climate change,” Francis explained. “They also highlight the importance of preserving our natural world, as these tiny engineers have been shaping our environment for tens of thousands of years.”