Chicago’s size iceberg has hidden an old ecosystem, scientists reveal

Scientists examining the seabed under a calving iceberg have found a remarkable range of living creatures, making concepts on how giant pieces of ice affect their immediate surroundings.

Scientists have studied a region of the seabed recently exposed by the calving of a gigantic iceberg – A -84 – which is as large as Chicago. The team found a community of creatures surprisingly dynamic on the seabed below where A-84 was once attached to an ice shelf attached to Antarctica.

“We did not expect to find such a beautiful flourishing ecosystem,” said Patricia Esquete, co-scientific of the expedition and researcher at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, in a British investigation in Antarctica release. “Based on the size of animals, the communities we have observed have been there for decades, perhaps even hundreds of years.”

Without the iceberg of 197 square miles (510 square kilometers), the team was able to examine the seabed at depths of 4,265 feet (1,300 meters) using the vehicle remotely (ROV) Auction. The team has found great corals and sponges supporting other life forms, including frozen fish, giant sea spiders and octopus.

Scientists who discovered were part of a team on the Schmidt Ocean Institute R / V Falkor (also)A ship 363 feet long (111 meters) which regularly reveals the hidden details of life at the bottom of the Earth’s oceans. The ship previously unknown mapped areas from the bottom of the ocean and even captured the Intimate reproduction merce octopus.

With the icebergs covering the seabed, organisms below the shelf cannot obtain nutrients for survival of the surface. The team has hypothesized that ocean currents are a critical life driver under ice caps. The team has also collected data on the largest ice cap, the size of which is concerned about the problems of animals that live below.

“The loss of ice in the Antarctic glacial cap is a major contributor to the rise of sea level worldwide,” said the other co-scientific of the expedition, Sasha Montelli, researcher at the University College in London, in the same version. “Our work is essential to provide a longer -term context of these recent changes, improving our ability to projections of future changes – projections that can illuminate exploitable policies. We will undoubtedly make new discoveries when we continue to analyze this vital data. ”

Although the ice board disappears is worrying, it also creates an opportunity for scientists to explore an area which is much more difficult to access. Rov Subastian And R / V Falkor (also) Will almost certainly make new discoveries on extreme environments where life extinguishes existence before their end of travel.