A new paper recently showed that total darkness, as well as a thriving ecosystem, have been around for thousands of years already.
As indicated in a ScienceAlert report, deep beneath the ice of Ekström Ice Shelf of Antarctica, there is nothing but total darkness.
According to the study's lead author Davis Barnes, who's also a British Antarctic Survey marine biologist, this finding of so much life that exists in such extreme conditions is a complete surprise and serves as a reminder of how Antarctic marine life "is so unique and special."
Amazingly, he also said they discovered evidence of so many types of animals; most feed on micro-algae or phytoplankton, yet no algae or plants can survive in this environment. Therefore, the big question is how such animals live and flourish here.
'Suspension Feeders' Found
In their study published in Current Biology, the authors used hot water to drill two boreholes on the comparatively small Ekström Ice Shelf in East Antarctica in 2018.
One hole went down about 630 feet of ice until it hit around 58 meters of liquid water, while the other spanned about 190 meters of ice with 110 meters of water under.
What they discovered in that dark, cold, and food-scarce place beneath the ice was lots of life. The researchers discovered more than 70 species from 49 different genera of bryozoans, including saber-shaped Melicerita obliqua and serpulid worm species like Paralaeospira sicula.
All of these creatures are described in this report as "suspension feeders," sitting in one place and, with feathery tentacles, are snatching the organic matter's particles from the water as it flows around them.
Meaning, some food source like sunlight-reliant algae needs to be getting in beneath the ice sheet. This is quite surprising, considering the nearest open water source is 9.6 kilometers away.
More so, previous studies have discovered life even further inland on larger ice sheets such as the Ross and McMurdo Ice Shelves, as specified in a similar Florida Digital News report.
Borehole Sites
In their paper, the researchers specified that despite permanent darkness for at least thousands of years, life had been viewed even 700 kilometers from ice shelf edges.
It had been thought that wealth and abundance of life beneath ice shelves is strongly "depauperate." yet, the biodiversity found at both borehole sites would be high even for open-marine Antarctic continental shelf specimens.
Meanwhile, Cellarinella even exhibited growth increments, akin to the rings of a tree, and the study investigators found they were similar to the other sized growth increments from samples surrounding Antarctica.
The researchers did not discover the current filter feeders deep beneath the ice. They looked long-dad fragments, as well, and carbon-dated to discover how old they are.
According to Alfred Wegener, a researcher at the Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Wegener, and Marine Research geologist Gerhard Kuhn, another surprise was to discover how long life has existed here. They added, carbon dating of dead fragments of such seafloor animals differed from the present to about 5,800 years.
Related information about Antarctica is shown on Riddle's YouTube video below:
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