Why it matters
Killer icebergs
26th July 2008
An increasing numbers of icebergs being calved off of the glaciers of Antarctica are pounding the sea floor to a greater extent than ever before – which is bad news for the creatures who live there. Sea urchins, worms, spiders and other animals off the southern continent’s peninsula are being directly affected, according to new research published in the journal Science last week. Scientists with the British Antarctic Survey placed markers all over the sea floor and found that more were scraped away by icebergs in warmer years. And as 80 per cent of all life at the South Pole (underwater and on land) is found on the sea floor, the ramifications for the antipodean food chain could be huge.
“We don’t predict that particular species will go extinct – but they may change their ranges, such as by moving to deeper waters, and this is likely to have consequences through the food chain, up to fish and seals,” says Dan Smale of the British Antarctic Survey, a lead author of the study.
He cautions that icebergs have always calved off the continent’s glaciers – they are just doing so more often now. And the seafloor scouring may actually increase Antarctic biodiversity by creating a greater diversity of habitats – future research missions will look at this question.
Published in The Green Report in The Globe and Mail