Underneath the frozen ocean , below layers of compacted ice and C , sunlight barely penetrate the waters of the Arctic . And yet , against all the odds , a photosynthesizing alga makes a life , and forms the basis of the solid food mountain chain in the Arctic Ocean , fuelling the intact ecosystem .
New research published in theJournal of Geophysical Researchhas found that these alga can carry on photosynthesizing , grow , and living while receiving just 0.02 percentage of the light that hit the Earth’s surface of the C. P. Snow 2 meters ( 6.5 feet ) above . This define the record for thelowest faint level ever observedwhere the alga are still able-bodied to go about their job on the undersurface of the ice .
The deoxyephedrine alga that live in this extreme environment have always been a flake of a mystery story . Residing in the small cracks and channel that form on the undersurface of the sparkler as the heavier saline solution piss flows out of the ice and into the body of water , they not only have to lot with the brackish environment and sub - freezing temperature , but also set up darkness for month on end , and then weak sunlight for the rest of the year .
The team from Aarhus University , Denmark drilled through the meter of sparkler topped by a measure of blow during the April - May time of year . They were then able-bodied to collect sampling of the ice algae , as well as run exactly how much luminosity managed to get through to them . uncalled-for to say , they were surprise by just how little light was necessary for the organisms to grow .
The find completely changes the understanding and importance of the role that ice alga fun in the Arctic ecosystem , in particular during early springiness as the Sun start to stand up above the horizon . As always , however , there is a warning here about how the thawing of the Arctic might knock thing out of kilter .
“ Temperatures are rising in the Arctic,“saidLars Chresten Lund - Hansen . " When the C on top of the ice gets warmer , the algae reside on the bottom of the ice receive more light . This may significantly touch the growth of the algae and the extent of the ' spring blossom ' . This new cognition must be study in the puzzle of how the Arctic will respond to a warm existence . ”
Would it mean that there are more nutrients at the bottom of the food chain ? Or will the season be advertize off balance ? And how would any of this affect the creatures higher up the food for thought web , such as fish , seals , whale , and seabirds ? These are all questions that require to be considered when we think about the future we ’re forging .
