AN EXPEDITION to an unexplored, newly revealed Antarctic ecosystem began this week. An international team set off to study a mysterious area of the ocean that has been concealed for thousands of years.
The ecosystem was hidden under the Larsen C ice shelf for 120,000 years. It was exposed when a huge iceberg calved off in July last year. The iceberg, known as A68, is four times the size of London, and weighs in at around 1 trillion tonnes. It is one of the largest ever recorded.
of the British Antarctic Survey, who is leading the scientists, says she wants to investigate the marine life on the seabed, which covers 5800 square kilometres. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important we get there quickly, before the undersea environment changes as sunlight enters the water and new species begin to colonise,鈥� she says.
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The team plans to collect animals, microbes and plankton, as well as samples of water and sediments, and will record the movements of marine mammals and birds into the area.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淓xploring a once-hidden world鈥�
