An international team of scientists has discovered unknown living organisms under the Antarctic ice shelf, which is located above the seabed and partially relies on it. The discovery is reported in an article published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.
The researchers drilled wells in the Filchner Glacier at points 260 kilometers from the glacier front (lower boundary). The ice thickness in the drilling area was 890 meters, and the seabed depth was 1233 meters. It turned out that under the glacier there is a community of sessile filtering organisms, consisting of sponges and unidentified creatures that may belong to sponges, ascidians, hydroids and other taxa.
The community is located 625-1500 kilometers downstream from the nearest region where photosynthesis takes place. It remains a mystery where they came from and what they eat, as well as how widespread these communities are. They probably exist due to chemosynthetic microorganisms, which need to extract the energy of chemical bonds of inorganic substances to maintain their vital functions.