According to foreign media reports on June 8, recently, Antarctic scientists have "opened" the door to a small crustacean world. These crustaceans thrive in the saltwater estuary about 1600 feet below the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest ice shelf in Antarctica**
Scientists at the National Institute of water and atmosphere in New Zealand used hot water hoses to melt the ice shelf until they found an ice river about 6.5 miles long, 300 yards wide and 800 feet deep. Craig Stevens, an oceanographer from Niwa, said: "imagine what a scene Sydney Harbor would be like when the ice and snow are less than 600 meters. It will be a completely dark scene and the temperature is still very low."
Obviously, the scene described by the above scientists is not an ideal place to live. But when the scientists put down some recording equipment, they were surprised to find that the river was full of amphipods. Under the light of the camera, some shrimp like crustaceans flew around the place.
In a Niwa report, Stevens said how he felt at that time, "when you see these creatures, you will jump up happily. But there are so many animals that we can't cope with them." Later, he also said that letting all these animals swim around our cameras means that an important ecosystem process is obviously taking place there. We will conduct more research by analyzing water samples to test nutrients and other substances.
Stevens said at the end of the interview that sometimes there are "crowds" of "swimmers" buzzing there. However, in other records of the river, far fewer organisms were found. He points out that this variability is "part of the excitement".
The team said that understanding these subglacial estuaries is very important for Antarctica. Next, we need to find out the similarities and differences between them and normal estuaries. In the future, there are plans to analyze water samples and test nutrients, which can reveal how life thrives away from light and open oceans.