Turns Out, The Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Hiding An Abundant Ecosystem

Surprising Discovery Under Antarctic Ice Shelf

Earlier this year, a gigantic iceberg fell from the Antarctic ice sheet. When the approximately 19-mile long chunk of ice (roughly the size of Chicago) broke off on Jan. 13, it revealed an area of ocean that had not been exposed to sunlight in decades.

Researchers working aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, the Falkor (too), off the coast of Antarctica decided to explore the seafloor beneath where the ice had once covered, a place where humans had never before explored.

While scientists were excited to see what lay beneath, they weren’t expecting much, since they believed that not much life could exist beneath the thick ice. Those expectations were wrong.

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“We seized upon the moment, changed our expedition plan, and went for it so we could look at what was happening in the depths below,” said expedition co-chief scientist Dr. Patricia Esquete of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies and the Department of Biology at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. “We didn’t expect to find such a beautiful, thriving ecosystem. Based on the size of the animals, the communities we observed have been there for decades, maybe even hundreds of years.”

Scientists believe they may be able to identify dozens of new species after the expedition, including new fish, crustaceans, sea snails and worms.

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Researchers first flagged that there were signs of sea life beneath the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in the Southern Weddell Sea in 2021, Schmidt Ocean Institute reported in a press release earlier this week. The expedition on the Falkor (too) was the first to use a remotely operated vehicle to explore such a remote Antarctic landscape with abundant life.

Scientists think this discovery could shed light on how deep-sea life is affected by a warming planet. They also hope to find answers as to how such rich ecosystems can survive underneath the dark Antarctic ice. Deep-sea creatures elsewhere thrive on photosynthesizing organisms that make their way to the seafloor. It’s possible that ocean currents or glacial meltwater help to carry sustenance to sea life underneath the ice sheet, or something else entirely is at play.