Scientists find remains of ancient life buried under Antarctic ice
- 5 years ago
ANTARCTICA — Researchers have discovered remains of tiny sea creatures deep beneath the ice in Antarctica, according to a report published in Nature.
Scientists in Antarctica have drilled beneath a frozen Antarctic lake and discovered signs of ancient aquatic life as part of the expedition SALSA, or Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access.
The scientists used a hot water bore to drill through the ice.
Remains of tiny sea animals such as crustaceans and a tardigrade, also known as water bears, were discovered in the Subglacial Lake Mercer.
The remains of these species were found preserved underneath a kilometer of Antarctic ice.
David Harwood, a micropaleontologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln involved with the project, said they didn't expect to find ancient life buried underneath the ice.
Slawek Tulaczyk, a glaciologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz who was not part of the research team, told Nature that the nothing like this ever been discovered beneath the glacial ice.
Tulaczyk said the sea creatures probably lived in ponds and streams in the Transantarctic Mountains when the climate was warmer.
He explained the sea creatures the river could have washed down the creatures from the mountains to the lake.
The animals may have been in the lake when ice sheets started to form over it and froze them over.
SOURCES: Nature, Fox News, Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00106-z
https://www.foxnews.com/science/scientists-exploring-antarctic-buried-under-ice-find-surprising-signs-of-ancient-life
https://salsa-antarctica.org/
Scientists in Antarctica have drilled beneath a frozen Antarctic lake and discovered signs of ancient aquatic life as part of the expedition SALSA, or Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access.
The scientists used a hot water bore to drill through the ice.
Remains of tiny sea animals such as crustaceans and a tardigrade, also known as water bears, were discovered in the Subglacial Lake Mercer.
The remains of these species were found preserved underneath a kilometer of Antarctic ice.
David Harwood, a micropaleontologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln involved with the project, said they didn't expect to find ancient life buried underneath the ice.
Slawek Tulaczyk, a glaciologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz who was not part of the research team, told Nature that the nothing like this ever been discovered beneath the glacial ice.
Tulaczyk said the sea creatures probably lived in ponds and streams in the Transantarctic Mountains when the climate was warmer.
He explained the sea creatures the river could have washed down the creatures from the mountains to the lake.
The animals may have been in the lake when ice sheets started to form over it and froze them over.
SOURCES: Nature, Fox News, Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00106-z
https://www.foxnews.com/science/scientists-exploring-antarctic-buried-under-ice-find-surprising-signs-of-ancient-life
https://salsa-antarctica.org/