A secret world of animals and plants — including unknown species — could be dwelling in warm caves under Antarctica’s glaciers, scientists said yesterday.
The caves, hollowed out by steam from active volcanoes, are light and could reach temperatures of 25°C, researchers said, raising the possibility of a whole ecosystem of flora and fauna deep beneath the frozen surface.
A study led by the Australian National University around Mount Erebus, an active volcano on Antarctica’s Ross Island, showed extensive cave systems.
Photo: AFP
Lead researcher Ceridwen Fraser said forensic analyses of soil samples from the caves had revealed intriguing traces of DNA from algae, mosses and small animals.
While most of the DNA was similar to mosses, algae and invertebrates found elsewhere in Antarctica, not all sequences could be fully identified.
“The results from this study give us a tantalizing glimpse of what might live beneath the ice in Antarctica — there might even be new species of animals and plants,” she said. “The next step is to go and have a really good look and see if we can find communities living beneath the ice in Antarctica.”
Despite the continent’s freezing temperatures, Fraser said heat emanating from the volcanoes could make the caves quite hospitable, warm enough “to wear a T-shirt and be comfortable,” with light filtering deep down where the overlying ice was thin.
Co-researcher Charles Lee, from the University of Waikato in New Zealand, said there were many other volcanoes in Antarctica, so subglacial cave systems could be common.
“We don’t yet know just how many cave systems exist around Antarctica’s volcanoes, or how interconnected these subglacial environments might be,” he said. “They’re really difficult to identify, get to and explore.”
The report, published in international journal Polar Biology, said there were more than 15 volcanoes in Antarctica that were either known to be currently active or that showed evidence of recent activity, with new ones continuing to be found.
However, despite recent advances in understanding Antarctic biodiversity, scientists still know “little about life in the continent’s subglacial cave systems, which may harbor diverse and complex communities.”
“Our results highlight the importance of investigating these cave systems in greater detail — despite the field challenges associated with such an endeavor — to confirm the presence of living macrobiota,” it said.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS