A City-Sized Iceberg Reveals Hidden Ecosystem in Antarctica

No one expected that life could thrive beneath the thick ice.

This year, a giant iceberg A-84, measuring about 30 kilometers in length, broke off from the George VI Ice Shelf in Antarctica. It exposed a previously hidden area of the seabed with a unique ecosystem.

An international team of researchers studied this mysterious world at depths of up to 1.3 kilometers and collected biological and geological samples, including sedimentary rocks. The Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) emphasized that this opportunity has arisen for the first time.

The cold subglacial world, which had been deprived of sunlight for centuries, turned out to be inhabited by numerous organisms of various shapes and sizes - from sponges and corals to octopuses, snails, worms, sea spiders, fish, and even the rare giant phantom jellyfish. Researchers believe that among this diversity there may be species unknown to science.

Now, biologists are eager to understand the mechanisms that allow deep-sea organisms to survive and thrive in such extreme conditions. In other parts of the ocean depths, creatures feed on organic remains that sink from the surface. However, beneath the ice cover more than 150 meters thick, this process is impossible. Perhaps food was delivered by ocean currents or meltwater, but for now, this remains a hypothesis.

A-84 broke off from the George VI Ice Shelf in Antarctica on January 13. Since then, scientists have been monitoring it using satellite images. The giant measures 30 kilometers in length and 17 kilometers in width. Its shape resembles a massive potato.