Scientists rush to Antarctica to study an area that hasn�t seen sunlight for 120,000
years
A hidden world that has been trapped under ice for 120,000 years going to finally be
explored by scientists.
There is a hidden ecosystem in the Antarctic that no one really knows anything about.
The unknown realm has been cut off from any light for around 120,000 years, and scientists
have no idea what might lie under the dark and freezing water.
Now it looks like the wait is over as a team of scientists will be exploring the marine
ecosystem that lies under the Antarctic ice shelf after a huge iceberg broke free in July
last year.
Iceberg the Size Of Delaware Weighed 1 Trillion Tonnes
The iceberg is said to be about the size of Delaware and was given the name A-68 and is
estimated to weigh about 1 trillion tonnes.
In the 1960s a small crack appeared on the Larsen C ice shelf, and this was the start
of the icebergs exit from the shelf.
The rift slowly widened until the crack picked up the pace in 2016 and 2017.
In July it broke free and drifted into the Southern Ocean.
When the ice block moved there was a huge watery expanse of more than 2,239 square miles
that had not seen daylight before, and now scientists are rushing to get here to explore
the frigid waters to find out if they contain any life before the transformation in the
ecosystem of the Antarctic changes the undisturbed existence.
Katrin Linse, the BAS marine biologist, said that they do not know anything about it as
ice has covered it several hundred meters in thickness.
She went on to say that it was important that they get there before the environment alters
due to sunlight now being able to enter the water and any new species down there start
to colonize.
Scientists from 9 Research Institutions Meeting At Falkland Islands
Linse, along with other researchers, is making their way to the Falkland Islands and will
join up with scientists from 9 different research institutions later on this month onboard the
research ship the RRS James Clark Ross.
They will make use of satellite monitoring to steer through the waters infused with ice
to reach the remote destination.
The BAS science director, David Vaughan, said that the researchers needed to be bold.
He went on to say that Larsen C is a long way to the south and in the region, there
is plenty of ice.
However, the finding is important to science, and so the researchers will do their best
to get where they are needed.
The voyage should take around three weeks, and during that time they plan on collecting
microbes, sediments, water samples and seafloor animals along with documenting any evidence
of new birds and marine mammals that could have migrated.
Researchers Have No Idea What to Expect However, the team has no idea of what to expect.
Linse said that they were traveling to a region where they have no idea what they will find,
and this is an exciting time.
Linse went on to say that they expect to come across animals that are like the ones found
in extreme deep seas that have to rely on greed food as there has not been any phytoplankton
in the sea above them.
One thing that is known is that it is vital to the researchers to make the most of the
opportunity while they can as often windows such as this one can take 100,000 years to
finally open.
Julian Gutt, a marine ecologist from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
in Germany, is going to be participating in the voyage.
He said that he could not think of a more dramatic move in environmental conditions
in any of Earths ecosystem.
For more infomation >> 나린이의 초등학교 입학 준비 두번째 이야기! 입학준비물 학용품 사러 갔어요~ㅣ토깽이네상상놀이터RabbitPlay - Duration: 10:52. 
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