A hidden world of aquatic life 500 metres beneath the ice in Antarctica has been revealed, complete with shrimp-like organisms in a massive cathedral-like cavern.
New Zealand scientists discovered the fascinating new habitat beneath the Ross ice shelf while examining the effects of global warming in a presumed estuary.
Drilling down through the ice shelf and into the river below was carried out by researchers from universities in Wellington, Auckland, and Otago, as well as the National Institute of Water and Atmospherics (Niwa) and the Geological and Nuclear Sciences.They were shocked to observe tiny swarming amphipods, animals from the same family as lobsters and crabs, after sending down a camera.
“For a while, we assumed something was amiss with the camera,” Niwa’s Craig Stevens explained, “but when the focus improved, we spotted a swarm of arthropods roughly 5mm in size. We’d done trials in other regions of the ice shelf and thought we’d figured things out, but this time there were some huge shocks.”
He went on to say that while investigating climate change was an important part of the research, there was also an element of discovery for the team.
“We were jumping up and down,” he continued, “since all those animals swimming around our equipment shows there’s certainly an important ecosystem there.””
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