Scientists working within the Antarctic area have found a sort of seaweed present some 100 metres beneath the floor – and consider it may have a “huge role” to play in defending the atmosphere.
Researchers additionally hailed the invention of pink alga Palmaria decipiens deep underwater as “important for furthering our knowledge of Antarctica“.
The seaweed was discovered by a workforce working on the Rothera Research Station on Adelaide Island, off the southwestern Antarctic peninsula.
Using a remotely operated automobile (ROV) from a small boat, the researchers discovered it 100 metres beneath the floor and picked up samples for additional examination.
With particulars now printed within the journal Polar Biology, Professor Frithjof Kuepper, of the School of Biological Sciences on the University of Aberdeen, stated: “We know that carbon seize can be essential to limiting international warming as we transfer ahead, and seaweeds sequester giant quantities of CO2.
“Seaweeds have the potential to play a huge role in protecting the environment by storing carbon at the bottom of oceans when they die and reducing ocean acidification.”
He added: “Finding Palmaria decipiens at 100 metres depth is important for furthering our knowledge of Antarctica, a continent that is so important to understand for addressing the environmental challenges the world faces today.”
The workforce had got down to make clear the utmost depths that seaweed may develop at in Antarctica with Prof Kuepper including: “We now know that seaweeds can live at least down to 100 metres depth in Antarctica.
“That is quite a bit, however we won’t rule out that they might stay even deeper.”
Ben Robinson, of the British Antarctic Survey and University of Southampton, stated: “In Antarctica, icebergs scour and remove seaweed from the shallows, leading to lots of loose seaweed at depths where it is no longer attached to the seafloor.
“Due to chilly temperatures, it may take a few years for these unfastened seaweeds to even begin breaking down, so we couldn’t depend on look.
“Instead, we needed to use an ROV to test and collect seaweed to confirm whether they were attached to the seafloor and to confirm a new depth limit for seaweed.”
The analysis, which was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, was a collaboration involving the University of Aberdeen, the University of Southampton, the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Thessaly in Volos, Greece.
Source: information.sky.com”