After a massive snowstorm calmed down from the continental iceberg last month, German researchers unearthed marine life off the Antarctic coast for the first time in decades.
The iceberg, named A-74, broke up about two weeks ago and began to pass through the Waddell Sea.
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As the only research ship nearby, the research icebreaker Polarster seized the opportunity to explore, bridging the gap between the A-to and Brent ice shelves.
His team included scientists from Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the Alfred Wagner Institute, Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and other international partners, according to a news release on Wednesday.
The “Once-in-a-lifetime” photographs captured by the crew are expected to provide a more detailed understanding of the “biodiversity taken from the seabed and the astonishing levels of sediment samples” about the ecosystem.
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In addition, physical-chemical analysis of the collected water samples will allow its findings relating to nutrients and ocean currents.
Foot is a large collection of video footage and photos using Phobes (Ocean Floor Observation and Bathmetry System), below the surface of life and surrounded by numerous organisms in a silty landscape.
Most of these creatures were filters, although experts also found sea cucumbers, sea stars, mollusks, at least five fish species and two squid species.
Hundreds of marine species live in Antarctic waters, but, as Live Science reported on Friday, the presence of static filter feeders that account for phytoplankton – which rely on sunlight for photosynthesis – meters below the ice.
The AWI noted in the publication that research was needed to better understand quiet events and that it is rare to be near an area without stakes and exposed to sunlight – especially for icebergs as large as the A-74.
The team also conducted research by area to collect data on water temperature, salinity and current speed of the sea.
The move, they believe, will help scientists create more accurate climate models for the region as the Antarctic continues to lose ice at alarming rates.
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“These data form the basis for a simulation of how ice sheets will respond to climate change. As a result, we can say with a high degree of certainty how fast sea levels will rise in the future – and provide the political community with” measures of climate change adaptation. A society with sound data for decision making “, said Dr. Hartmoot Helmer, a physical oceanographer and head of the AWI campaign.