05-07-2022, 04:34 PM
https://www.livescience.com/fossil-seawa...ice-stream
Beneath a fast-flowing ice stream in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered a vast aquifer brimming with seawater that's likely been locked down there for thousands of years.
This is the first time scientists have detected groundwater beneath an ice stream in Antarctica, and the discovery could reshape our understanding of how the frigid continent reacts to climate change and what kinds of mysterious organisms lurk beneath its many ice shelves.
The newfound groundwater system can be thought of as a giant sponge, made up of porous sediment and saturated with water, said Chloe D. Gustafson, lead author of a new study on the buried aquifer, formerly a geophysicist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and now based at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. "The 'sponge' that we observe is anywhere from half a kilometer to about two kilometers thick [0.3 to 1.2 miles], so it's pretty deep," she told Live Science.
Quite fascinating that such a thing exists, honestly!
I rather hope we don't use it for anything, since it's probably home to some unique lifeforms (and we have plenty of water as it is). But it's certainly worth studying, to learn more about how the Antarctic ecosystem works.
Beneath a fast-flowing ice stream in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered a vast aquifer brimming with seawater that's likely been locked down there for thousands of years.
This is the first time scientists have detected groundwater beneath an ice stream in Antarctica, and the discovery could reshape our understanding of how the frigid continent reacts to climate change and what kinds of mysterious organisms lurk beneath its many ice shelves.
The newfound groundwater system can be thought of as a giant sponge, made up of porous sediment and saturated with water, said Chloe D. Gustafson, lead author of a new study on the buried aquifer, formerly a geophysicist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and now based at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. "The 'sponge' that we observe is anywhere from half a kilometer to about two kilometers thick [0.3 to 1.2 miles], so it's pretty deep," she told Live Science.
Quite fascinating that such a thing exists, honestly!
I rather hope we don't use it for anything, since it's probably home to some unique lifeforms (and we have plenty of water as it is). But it's certainly worth studying, to learn more about how the Antarctic ecosystem works.
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