Urgent mission to explore 120,000 year old marine ecosystem

In 2017, an exceptionally huge iceberg called A-68 calved off the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Now an international team of scientists is racing to explore the ancient marine ecosystem which has been exposed. It’s a unique chance to study life on the seabed that has been hidden under the ice for thousands of years and to see how it responds to the sudden change in conditions. But the researchers must hurry before the arrival of other organisms and sunlight affect the original seafloor life.

The area the scientists are heading for is a designated as a Special Area for Scientific Study – a type of protected marine area that came about due to a European Union proposal to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Read more ….