and a half months. However, rocks from the Early Cretaceous Wonthaggi Formation in southeastern Australia evidence seasonally frozen ground. Its geographical positioning in the Early Cretaceous at around 78°S indicates this area experienced one to three months of darkness in winters, and this area is representative of a glacial-fed floodplain. Evidence of Early Cretaceous glaciation and cold climates was discovered in sediments in the Eromanga Basin in modern-day central Australia, or 60 to 80°S in the Early Cretaceous. This basin was a large inland sea in the Cretaceous. Nonetheless, similar formations could have been created by simply debris flow, and so it is possible that glaciation did not ever occur there. The total polar ice coverage during the Mesozoic may have been a third of the size as it is in modern times, though cold snaps of subfreezing temperatures possibly occurred throughout the Early Cretaceous. Late Cretaceous The canopy of the polar forests around present-day Alexander Island, which was around 75°S in the Middle Cretaceous, were predominantly evergreen, and likely most South Polar forests were as well, and comprised mainly araucarian and podocarp conifers. It is thought that these trees remained dormant throughout the polar winters until summers under the midnight sun. Evidence of flowering plants dating to around 80 Ma in the Late Cretaceous suggests the existence of temperate forests–similar to those in present-day Australia, New Zealand, and southern South America. Some flower remains were discovered near 60°S, and it is possible at such a low latitude that this area was subject to polar winters and seasonal weather, though the flowers suggest an annual temperature range of and a rainy climate. Pollen remains from southeastern Australia are identical to living plant species of Australia: conifers, flowering plants that inhabit areas with high rainfall and a Mediterranean climate, and sclerophyllous scrublands, indicating a unique landscape of rainforest and open bushland. Indicated by the size of the tree rings on fossil trees, the Antarctic polar forests featured a cooling trend throughout the Maastrichtian age 72 to 66 mya, from a mean annual temperature of to a more seasonally extreme . These plants likely survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which killed off most life 66 Ma, on the volcanic Antarctic Peninsula; plant fossils dating to 60 Ma in the Paleocene from Seymour Island off this peninsula are recognized as being the ancestors of temperate plants inhabiting modern-day Australia and South America. The