They discover an intact marine ecosystem after the detachment of a giant iceberg in Antarctica

After the detachment of a giant iceberg in Antarctica, appointed A-84, scientists inquired into the marine floor that hid below this huge block of ice and discovered a world full of life, inhabited by sponges and corals.

In January 2025, the aforementioned iceberg, which covered an area of ​​510 square kilometers (imagines an ice block of the size of the city of Puebla), detached from its site on the Antarctic Peninsula because of the effects of climate change, one more sample of the accelerated passage of the thaw in the continent.

Not far from there, in the Bellingshausen Sea, there was an international team of researchers aboard the R/V Falkor (Too)a ship belonging to the Schmidt Ocean Institute (and that has played a role in other important findings). Given the opportunity to investigate a site that had never been explored by humans, the researchers decided to change plans and moved to the space previously occupied by A-84.

“We took the opportunity, we modified our expedition plan and we launched to observe what was happening in the depths,” said Dr. Patricia Esquete, scientific co -director of the expedition, in a statement released by British antarctic survey. On January 25, the researchers arrived at the site and began their new adventure.

Over eight days, the researchers observed the seabed, reaching depths of up to 1,300 meters by using a remote control vehicle, the Rov auction. Studies of geology, physical oceanography and biology were carried out under this area that was once covered by a floating ice platform. Following the findings, the change of itinerary was worth it.