IT HAS been called the last marine frontier. Now seabed that was hidden for thousands of years below Antarctic ice sheets has been visited. Nearly barren in some places, in others it is teeming with life.
The unexplored zone was covered by the Larsen A and B ice shelves until they collapsed in 1995 and 2002 respectively. Researchers led by Julian Gutt, based at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, sent down a remotely operated submersible to capture video footage and collect samples.
Where the ice shelves scraped along the bottom, the seabed is bare. In other areas, animals and plants are thriving and seem to be long established. In particular, there are a lot of sea cucumbers, normally found at depths below 2000 metres but now discovered living above 850 metres. Among potentially new species are two of octopus and 15 new shrimp-like amphipods. One amphipod is 10 centimetres long, putting it among the biggest ever seen in Antarctica. Gutt also says his team has evidence of the past presence of a rare 鈥渃old seep鈥� 鈥� a seabed vent that would have spewed methane and sulphides and supported life.
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鈥淭he break-up of these ice shelves opened up huge, near-pristine portions of the ocean floor, sealed off from above for at least 5000 years,鈥� he says.
鈥淭he break-up of these ice shelves opened up huge portions of the ocean floor鈥�
The mission was the firstof 13 planned for International Polar Year, which was formally launched on Thursday.
