Life beneath the deep ice of Antarctica is beyond imagination. But it is happening: claims a group of scientists. The group was in performing survey research on Antarctica when they accidentally discovered human life under the ice. It was on the southeastern Weddell Sea, and the temperature of the ice shelf was -2 degrees C. The group found life approximately 3000 feet under the ice. Let’s get through all the details.
Huw Griffith’s Team Conducted The Survey
Originally this survey was conducted by The British Antarctic Survey. Biographer Huw Griffith was the team leader. His team found that creatures were attached to a boulder in the Filcher-Ronne ice shelf. They drilled through 2,860 feet under the ice shelf. Huw’s team never believed that under these circumstances and this temperature, any living being could be surviving. They found a habitat of creatures which are filter feeders surviving under the ice shelf.
The British Antarctic Survey’s official Twitter page posted a video regarding the discovery. The post captioned: ‘’Discovery of life after drilling through 900m of Filcher-Ronne Ice Shelf in #Antarctica.” In the video Griffith told: “We recently found life living far beneath a giant floating ice shelf. What we found was surprising because we have never expected this kind of animals, animals that filter feed their food from the water column, to be found this far from a source of food or daylight.”
Griffith also added: “Everything we know about these environments under the ice comes from a handful of holes drilled by people through the ice and then cameras lowered down… Our discovery raises so many more questions than it answers such as how did they get there.”
The Survey Experience
The British Antarctic Survey conducted the research on the Filcher-Ronne ice shelf, which is floating ice, measures more than 579,000 square miles. However the scientist’s group was never thought that their mission will result this. In a press conference Huw Griffith told The Guardian: “Never in a million years would we have thought about looking for this kind of life, because we didn’t think it would be there.”
Discovery of life after drilling through 900m of Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in #Antarctica.
Published today @FrontMarineSci – https://t.co/atdkiv1GrA @griffiths_huw @shelfyice @hotwateronice @wavygk @GeoscienceAus @morroghmax @post_alix @nuigalway @UCR_EP_Sci @NERCscience pic.twitter.com/L8P9tt2DbZ
— British Antarctic Survey 🐧 (@BAS_News) February 15, 2021
The video by British Antarctic Survey shows two types of living creatures. One of them was in red, had long stalks, the second one was highlighted in white, had round sponge figure. None of the species was practically identified. According to the scientist’s group, they will do next research to search the specie’s real identities and their characteristics. Finally, Griffith concluded by saying: “To answer our questions we will have to find a way of getting up close with these animals and their environment.”
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