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In Antarctica, an Iceberg the Size of Chicago Suddenly Broke Off, Revealing a Shocking Discovery
The Debrief ^ | March 21, 2025 | Christopher Plain

Posted on 03/21/2025 12:03:29 PM PDT by Red Badger

A large sponge, a cluster of anemones, and other life is seen nearly 230 meters deep under a recently calved iceberg. Credit Schmidt Ocean Institute.

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After an iceberg in Antarctica measuring roughly the size of Chicago suddenly broke off into the Bellinghausen Sea in January, scientists aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) were shocked to find a thriving community of diverse organisms living underneath.

The team says witnessing an iceberg of this size break off in real time was unexpected. However, it provided the group already aboard the vessel with a unique opportunity to investigate how these hardy organisms, sometimes called extremophiles for their ability to inhabit extreme environments scientists once considered uninhabitable, can exist in such stygian conditions.

The research team behind the discovery believes their Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) expeditions underneath the newly calved iceberg have likely found several previously unidentified species.

Shocking Discovery Beneath Iceberg Adds to Mysteries of Antarctica

Before the research team’s discovery, several scientists studying Antarctica’s mysteries, including investigating the continent’s only native insect, have also made historic, unexpected, and worrying discoveries. In 2024, a trio of studies of Antarctica found mysterious, giant features under the Dotson Ice Shelf, pieces of ancient amber indicating Antarctica had trees 90 million years ago, and indications the Ross Ice Shelf is experiencing daily jolts from the movement of ice streams.

In 2021, scientists made a discovery notably similar to the Bellinghausen Sea expedition when they found an oasis of marine life underneath the Antarctic Ice Shelf. A 2022 expedition also found an unexpected community of crab-like creatures deep under Antarctica.

On Research Vessel Falkor (too), Christian Aldea (Scientist, Universidad de Magallanes) examines an ophiuroid under the microscope in the ship’s Wet Lab. Credit Schmidt Ocean Institute.

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In January of this year, scientists found a thriving ecosystem beneath 14 meters of ice covering Lake Enigma. The foothill region is considered one of the least likely locations on Earth scientists would have expected to find life.

Researchers exploring Antarctica have also investigated several mysterious disappearances. For example, one team found that thousands of the continent’s meteorites, an invaluable resource to scientists due to their normally pristine conditions, are disappearing at an alarming rate. Another team investigated why unusual ice formations once prominent on the surface of Antarctica had suddenly disappeared.

The latest discovery of an entire community of organisms living and thriving underneath a newly separated iceberg seemingly adds to the mysteries of the planet’s most remote continent while offering the opportunity to solve several others.

Researchers Were in the Right Place at the Right Time

The research team acknowledges that exploring the area underneath an iceberg is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, they also say the expedition was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

Research Vessel Falkor (too) maneuvers around icebergs while conducting research in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica. Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute.

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“The science team was originally in this remote region to study the seafloor and ecosystem at the interface between ice and sea,” explained Schmidt Ocean Institute Executive Director Dr. Jyotika Virmani.

Virmani described the event as a “rare scientific opportunity” that was strong enough for the team to set aside previous plans and focus on the iceberg.

“We seized upon the moment, changed our expedition plan, and went for it so we could look at what was happening in the depths below,” said expedition co-chief scientist Dr. Patricia Esquete of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and the Department of Biology (DBio) at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. “We didn’t expect to find such a beautiful, thriving ecosystem. Based on the size of the animals, the communities we observed have been there for decades, maybe even hundreds of years.”

Expeditions discovered an octopus resting on the seafloor 1150 meters deep in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica, Credit Schmidt Ocean Institute.

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After the team moved closer to examine the calving results, they found an iceberg roughly 510 square kilometers (209 square miles), or about the size of Chicago. The event also exposed an equivalent area of seafloor that had likely been covered for millennia.

The team immediately began expeditions to explore the region using the Schmidt Institute’s ROV, SuBastian. After eight days exploring the seafloor, the team says they found “flourishing ecosystems at depths as great as 1300 meters.” Among the most unexpected finds were communities of large corals and sponges supporting a surprising array of animal life, “including icefish, giant sea spiders, and octopus.”

The ROV captured this image of giant phantom jelly in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica/ Credit Schmidt Ocean Institue.

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Investigating Precise Mechanisms Fueling These Remote Ecosystems

The discovery of a thriving ecosystem underneath an iceberg has excited scientists, while offering several unanswered questions. The team hopes that future efforts can help explain the precise mechanisms fueling these remote ecosystems that appear hostile to life. The team also suggests their work can play a significant role in efforts preserve the ice and reduce the effects of climate change in this once pristine environment.

“The ice loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is a major contributor to sea level rise worldwide,” said expedition co-chief scientist Sasha Montelli of University College London (UCL), United Kingdom, also a 2019 Schmidt Science Fellow. “Our work is critical for providing longer-term context of these recent changes, improving our ability to make projections of future change — projections that can inform actionable policies. We will undoubtedly make new discoveries as we continue to analyze this vital data.”

While those efforts are critical to the planet’s future, the rare opportunity to study a freshly separated iceberg reminded at least one of the researchers why their job can go from meticulous to wondrous in seconds.

“Serendipitous moments are part of the excitement of research at sea,” Dr. Virmani explained, “they offer the chance to be the first to witness the untouched beauty of our world.”

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.


TOPICS: History; Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Weather
KEYWORDS: freepun; glaciers
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To: N. Theknow

The krillers are on a brine spree in that area.


21 posted on 03/21/2025 12:46:37 PM PDT by GaltAdonis
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To: Red Badger

Yawn. Clickbait.


22 posted on 03/21/2025 12:51:49 PM PDT by Seruzawa ("The Political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence" - Marx the Smarter (Groucho))
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To: Red Badger

Life will find a way.


23 posted on 03/21/2025 12:53:39 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try)
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To: Red Badger

Bookmark


24 posted on 03/21/2025 12:53:39 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (God save the United States!)
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To: dp0622

It’s our God given right to not read articles and proceed straight to commenting :)”

You betcha and we do it with zeal and enthusiasm.


25 posted on 03/21/2025 12:55:05 PM PDT by iamgalt
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To: Red Badger

Godzilla?


26 posted on 03/21/2025 12:56:53 PM PDT by william clark (A man who is unwilling to be proven wrong has little regard for truth.)
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To: N. Theknow

Several were krilled.

Was it a crime wave?

gonna have to have you walk the plankton that one.


27 posted on 03/21/2025 12:59:52 PM PDT by teeman8r (Armageddon won't be pretty, but it's not like it's the end of the world or something )
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To: N. Theknow

If only Chicago would break off from Illinois.


28 posted on 03/21/2025 1:00:41 PM PDT by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them )
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To: N. Theknow
Was it a crime wave?

The Pistol Shrimp say dey dint sea nuttin.

29 posted on 03/21/2025 1:11:44 PM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, The Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
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To: Red Badger

30 posted on 03/21/2025 1:15:19 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

What is that brown mass?


31 posted on 03/21/2025 1:20:29 PM PDT by A Navy Vet (USA Birth Certificate - 1787. Death Certificate - 2021? )
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To: Red Badger
After an iceberg in Antarctica measuring roughly the size of Chicago suddenly broke off into the Bellinghausen Sea in January,

And it was found to be littered with numerous spent shell casings no doubt.

32 posted on 03/21/2025 1:42:01 PM PDT by dznutz
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To: Red Badger
“investigating the continent’s only native insect”

Well, what is that insect?

The Antarctic Cockroach?

33 posted on 03/21/2025 1:48:59 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: spel_grammer_an_punct_polise
After seeing video of shrimp thriving near the Marianas Trench where the water would be boiling except for the extreme depth [...]

So-called "hydrothermal vents."

I had thought they were found primarily in divergent zones (where two tectonic plates are moving away from each other) - but apparently they are also found in subduction zones (like the Marianas Trench) and even in convergent boundaries.

Interesting!

Regards,

34 posted on 03/21/2025 2:04:40 PM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Red Badger

“…have also made historic, unexpected, and worrying discoveries.…”

I knew before reading that there were worrying discoveries made.


35 posted on 03/21/2025 2:21:41 PM PDT by TalBlack (Their god is government. Prepare for a religious war.)
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To: Jamestown1630

Al Capone’s safe?


36 posted on 03/21/2025 2:39:40 PM PDT by crusty old prospector
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To: crusty old prospector

That should be good for ten million of taxpayers money.


37 posted on 03/21/2025 2:47:31 PM PDT by Cowgirl
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To: Political Junkie Too

You win.


38 posted on 03/21/2025 4:17:54 PM PDT by bobcat62
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To: crusty old prospector

or Jimmy Hoffa


39 posted on 03/21/2025 4:23:29 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Red Badger
A secret Nazi moon base?

Because the last place you'd look for a Nazi moon base would be in the Antarctic.

40 posted on 03/21/2025 4:24:35 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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