Stunningly Abundance Of Life Found Under The Antarctic Ice Sheet

It is pitch black beneath the ice of Antarctica's Ekström Ice Shelf. Researchers from the UK and Germany claim to have discovered a thriving ecosystem in complete darkness that has existed for thousands of years.

Two boreholes were drilled in the relatively small Ekström Ice Shelf in East Antarctica by a team of researchers using hot water, as they do believe. The bottom of one hole was 192 measures (630 bases) of ice before it hit 58 measures of water below, while the top of the alternate hole was 190 measures of ice with 110 measures of water below.

It turns out that under the ice, far from the light and food, there was life, and it was plentiful. It is the first time that 77 species of bryozoans have been found on land, including the spear-shaped Melicerita obliqua and serpulid worm Paralaeospira sicula.

The animals on this list are suspension feeders, which means that they sit in one spot and snatch organic particles from flowing water with their feathery tentacles which indicates that sunlight-dependent algae must be reaching them under the ice sheet.

In light of the fact that the nearest open water source is 9.6 kilometers away, this isn't exactly surprising. The McMurdo Ice Shelf and Ross Ice Shelf were also found to have life even further inland.

Scientists found that fragments of four species of Cellarinella even showed growth increments, which looked like tree rings, and found that these increments matched those of other samples collected around Antarctica.

The researchers also looked at long-dead fragments to determine their age by carbon dating. In addition to today's filter feeders, they found long-dead fragments and carbon dating of them.

According to the new research, the creatures lived in small, unanchored areas of sea ice, while open areas of water around the sea ice were able to provide phytoplankton that was consumed by those creatures far below the ice. As the water flowed under the ice, the plankton was swept under, where hungry creatures were waiting.

Meanwhile, researchers are nervous about the future of these ecosystems, despite the fact that they have been around for so long so far.