Ancient Seafloor Revealed by Iceberg Breakaway

The Larsen Iceshelf made news months ago when large chunks of it broke off to form icebergs. While this has some potentially troubling implications concerning climate change, it has also created an opportunity for people to study the seafloor previously hidden by the shelf.

Gizmodo has more on this expedition

“The calving of A-68 provides us with a unique opportunity [to] study marine life as it responds to a dramatic environmental change,” Katrin Linse, a marine biologist with the BAS, said in a statement. “It’s important we get there quickly before the undersea environment changes as sunlight enters the water and new species begin to colonize. We’ve put together a team with a wide range of scientific skills so that we can collect as much information as possible in a short time. It’s very exciting.”

Creatures likely like this would live under the iceberg

The actual source

A team of scientists, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), heads to Antarctica this week (14 February) to investigate a mysterious marine ecosystem that’s been hidden beneath an Antarctic ice shelf for up to 120,000 years.

120,000 years is a long time, although I do wonder how completely this seafloor was isolated. If there is any opportunity for exchange with the local area, we'd expect it to be typical of that area. However, true isolation could lead to some very interesting discoveries. Perhaps interesting in the way of the genesis of a scifi horror story, but I guess we'll find out.

Enjoy this story? Throw me a follow @mattuebel and let me know in the comments!