A groundbreaking discovery has been made in Antarctica, where an international team of researchers has uncovered a previously unseen ecosystem of sponges, anemones, hydroids, and coral beneath the floating George VI Ice Shelf. The newly exposed site, near the edge of the glacier, has sparked widespread interest among scientists who are now analyzing the unique environment.
Led by Dr Patricia Esquete of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, a team from the Schmidt Ocean Institute used a remotely operated vehicle to explore the seabed over an eight-day period. They found thriving ecosystems at depths of up to 1,300 meters, with communities believed to have been intact for decades or even hundreds of years.
The discovery sheds new light on how deep-sea ecosystems function beneath floating sections of the Antarctic ice sheet. Scientists are still unsure how these isolated ecosystems manage to sustain life despite being cut off from surface nutrients and lacking direct sunlight. The team proposes that ocean currents could be a key mechanism in sustaining life beneath the ice, with nutrients slowly raining down from the surface.
The finding is set to take years to fully understand, but it has significant implications for our understanding of deep-sea ecosystems. As Dr Esquete noted, “Being right there when this iceberg calved from the ice shelf presented a rare scientific opportunity.”
Source: https://www.ndtv.com/science/thriving-antarctic-ecosystem-found-after-iceberg-split-leaves-scientists-stunned-8050926