ANTARCTICA — Researchers have discovered remains of tiny sea creatures deep beneath the ice in Antarctica, according to a report published in Nature.<br /><br />Scientists in Antarctica have drilled beneath a frozen Antarctic lake and discovered signs of ancient aquatic life as part of the expedition SALSA, or Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access.<br /><br />The scientists used a hot water bore to drill through the ice.<br /><br />Remains of tiny sea animals such as crustaceans and a tardigrade, also known as water bears, were discovered in the Subglacial Lake Mercer.<br /><br />The remains of these species were found preserved underneath a kilometer of Antarctic ice.<br /><br />David Harwood, a micropaleontologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln involved with the project, said they didn't expect to find ancient life buried underneath the ice.<br /><br />Slawek Tulaczyk, a glaciologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz who was not part of the research team, told Nature that the nothing like this ever been discovered beneath the glacial ice.<br /><br />Tulaczyk said the sea creatures probably lived in ponds and streams in the Transantarctic Mountains when the climate was warmer.<br /><br />He explained the sea creatures the river could have washed down the creatures from the mountains to the lake.<br /><br />The animals may have been in the lake when ice sheets started to form over it and froze them over.<br /><br />SOURCES: Nature, Fox News, Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access<br />https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00106-z<br />https://www.foxnews.com/science/scientists-exploring-antarctic-buried-under-ice-find-surprising-signs-of-ancient-life<br />https://salsa-antarctica.org/
