Deep beneath Antarctica's ice shelves, researchers have discovered dozens of life-forms thriving on a tiny patch of the seafloor —— an unprecedented level of species diversity for an environment that has never seen sunlight."If you had asked me three questions at the manuscript onset," said study co-author David Barnes, a marine biologist with the British Antarctic Survey, "How much richness of life will we find? Not much. How abundant is it going to be? Not very. What's it's growth going to be like? Very slow. And I would have been wrong on every point."Far below Antarctic ice, shielded from the energizing rays of the sun, life can exist, but it was thought to be rare. As most ecosystems are built on a foundation of photosynthetic organisms like plants or algae, such dark realms shouldn't have enough food to support a wide variety of life. Related: Time-lapse images of retre
According to a recent research published in the journal Current Biology this week, there is more marine life further beneath the Antarctic ice shelves than previously thought.
Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected, finds a recent study in the journal Current Biology, published this
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