Scientists discover Antarctic marine life trapped under ice for half a century

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Fossil of 'real-life Loch Ness Monster' found in Antarctica

Scientists have recently uncovered the fossilized remains of a 70-million-year-old elasmosaur in Antarctica, which would have once weighed as much as 15 tons, making it one of the largest of its kind ever found. Fossil hunters are calling the find a real-life Lock Ness monster, as many believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur, such as an elasmosaur. It is now one of the most complete ancient reptile fossils ever discovered.

German researchers have uncovered marine life along the Antarctic seafloor for the first time in decades after a massive iceberg calved from the continent's ice sheet last month. 

The iceberg, dubbed A-74, detached about two weeks ago and began to drift through the Weddell Sea. 

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As the only research vessel nearby, the research icebreaker Polarstern seized on the opportunity to explore, penetrating the gap between A-74 and the Brunt Ice Shelf.

Life on Antactic Seafloor, where giant iceberg A74 calved from Brunt ice shelf (eatsern Weddell Sea) two weeks before scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and international colleagues arrived in the area with RV Polarstern. Pictures taken with OFOBS (Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System). A 10 cm diameter sea anenome uses a small stone as a substrate. Various shrimp and small fish may form part of the diet of this under ice animal. (ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT)

Their team was comprised of scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and other international partners, according to a Wednesday news release.

"Once-in-a-lifetime" photographs captured by the crew revealed an "amazing level of biodiversity and sediment samples taken from the seafloor are "expected to provide more detailed insights into the ecosystem."

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In addition, geochemical analysis of the water samples collected will allow conclusions to be made regarding its nutrient content and ocean currents.

Video footage and an extensive collection of photos taken using the OFOBS (Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System) exposed life deep below the surface and numerous organisms surrounded by a silty landscape.

The OFOBOS Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System aboard the Polarstern research vessel (ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT)

The majority of those creatures were filterers, although the experts also found sea cucumbers, sea stars, mollusks, at least five fish species and two squid species.

Hundreds of marine species live in Antarctic waters but, as LiveScience reported Friday, the presence of stationary filter feeders that eat phytoplankton -- which rely on sunshine for photosynthesis -- meters under the ice was surprising. 

AWI noted in the release that the research was essential to better understanding calving events and that it's rare to be near a region that becomes ice-free and in contact with sunlight -- especially for icebergs as large as A-74. 

The team also stationed research buoys in the area in order to gather data about the water's temperature, salinity and ocean current speeds. 

It's a move they believe will help scientists make more accurate climate models for the region as the Antarctic continues to lose ice mass at alarming rates.

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"This data forms the basis for our simulations of how the ice sheet will respond to climate change. As a result, we can say with a higher degree of certainty how quickly the sea level will rise in the future – and provide the political community and society at large with sound data for making decisions on necessary climate change adaptation measures," physical oceanographer and AWI expedition head Dr. Hartmut Hellmer said.