Scientists believed that this sea bottom of Antarctica would be infertile. But it’s full of life

When the crew of the Ocean Science Expedition learned that the iceberg of Chicago had separated from the ice shelves of Antarctica, they knew they had to stop what they were doing immediately and seized it.

After all, he gave a unique opportunity to explore the seabed in the ocean area previously cut off by people.

Despite his excitement, the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s team did not think he would find many lives so far below the ice, far beyond the reach of the sun.

It turns out to be dead in the wrong.

The first picture that came to the control room of the ship from a remote control of the team revealed a large sea sponge with a cancer that crawled on it, says Patricia Esqueta, the chief scientist of the expedition at the time of the discovery.

“There was a lot of excitement, “she said As it happens Host Nil Köxal. “Then, hour in an hour and day by day, we kept seeing more.”

Esquete and her colleagues documented the surprisingly lush and diverse marine ecosystem that includes corals, sponges, fish, giant sea spiders, octopuses and more, some of which are probably new in science.

But it remains a mystery of how much life he could flourish in the depths of the dark ocean, some 1,300 meters below the Ice shelves of George VI, one of the massive floating glaciers attached to the iceboard of the Antarctic Peninsula.

It is also not clear what will happen to this ecosystem, which is basically amended by the loss of that ice.

“It’s a very interesting discovery and I can’t wait to see all the new species discovered and to understand what maintains biodiversity in these ecosystems,” said Guadalupe BribiSca-Contreras, an applied scientist at the English National Oceanography Center, which was not involved in the excess.

Esquete, Deepsea ecologist and taxonomist at Portugal University in Aveir, says the crew explored the Oceanic floors of the More Bellingshause along the West Side of the Antarctica Peninsula in January, when they saw, through satellite paintings, that the new iceberg was breaking from George.

“We immediately knew we had to go there and explore the area,” she said. “Our expectations were a very impoverished ecosystem, because, you know, the sea ecosystem usually feeds on solar energy.”

This is true even in the deepest depths, because the nutrients from photosynthesizing organs slowly fall to maintain the ecosystems below.

But for centuries, this region has been covered with beautiful almost 150 meters thick. Before that, the ice was so thick that he touched the ocean bottom.

“That means photosynthesis can’t happen … And food won’t be produced,” Esquee said. “So, we were expecting some forms of life -fed foods that the currents transport sideways, but we didn’t expect much.”

If food and energy do not rain from above, what is the launch and feeding of this region full of life?

“It will be truly the most exciting research we can do,” Esquee said.

The team collected pictures, as well as some specimens and geological samples. Scientists will look at the geology of the region, as well as the ocean current, to try to enrich “how the whole system works,” she said.

But the first step, Esqueta says, will be a classification of all the creatures they watched.

“So the complete morphological study of all kinds we found and then a genetic analysis,” she said.

Doubt the dozens of them could be new in science.

“Me were in a very little explored area. And we know that when you explore deep sea, when you taste deep sea, you always find new species. “

While the iceberg flowed when and where he did it was unusual for the crew, it was not anywhere. The ice board has been melting and decreasing for decades due to climate change.

Victoria Verena Tunnicliffe University, which was not involved in the expedition, wonders how this newly discovered ecosystem will change now that it has been exposed.

“They took a very unusual opportunity to explore a world hidden under extremely dense ice for thousands of years,” said Tunnicliffe, a Canadian research chair at Deep Ocean Research.

“This expedition is able to create a set of” basic “data: originally habitat and ecosystem. And how will the curtain be changed now? I hope it will remain available in the coming years to measure change, understanding the unique conditions below the thick icy.”

Esquete, meanwhile, is excited to discover some marine mysteries.

“What allows that series of lives to be something we really want to understand,” she said.