Ecosystems still foreign to us exist all around us. The bottom of the ocean being notably difficult to map and to understand, imagine the complexity of life at the ocean floor underneath an iceberg sheet. This July, a spectacular event has set the stage for great exploration in the field of biological oceanography. An antarctic iceberg has broken off from the Larsen C ice sheath and is moving into the Weddell Sea. Similar icebergs have broken off from Larsen A and B in 1995 and 2002 respectively, yet at those times technology was not yet so advanced and the sea ice conditions were dangerous for planned expeditions. By the time it was safe to travel, scientists arrived to a completely altered ecosystem adapted to the new ocean life without ice. It is crucial that researchers make it to the site as soon as possible. A research mission is currently in the process of being approved for sail to Antarctica in early 2018. Many nation-states are currently trying to get involved exploring the foreign biodiversity. The forerunners are South Korea, which plans to divert an expedition for the Shetland Islands already planned, and Great Britain. If scientists are able to make it there they could find themselves in the presence of an incredible ecosystem over 5,800 square kilometers of sea floor, new to our eyes, which has been hidden beneath the Larsen ice sheath for more than 120,000 years.
To read the full article first printed in Nature magazine, visit…
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/giant-iceberg-rsquo-s-split-exposes-hidden-ecosystem/
