Arctic Ocean Survey May Reveal Lost World

core plexus writes " A new survey of the depths of the ice-capped Arctic Ocean as reported at Reuters, BBC, and others, could reveal a lost world of living fossils and exotic new species from jellyfish to giant squid, scientists said on Thursday. They speculated that Arctic waters might hide creatures known only from fossils, such as trilobites that flourished 300 million years ago. The international scheme will include probing a 12,470-foot abyss off Canada described by project leaders as the "world's oldest sea water -- a vast, still pool unstirred for millennia, walled by steep ridges and lidded with ice." Bring on the "Jurassic Park" references."

Comments

Must we?

[AndyMouse GoHard]

"... -- a vast, still pool unstirred for millennia..."

Until we taint it with our presence.

Re:Must we?

[mattyrobinson69]

couldn't birds do this? pick up something from somewhere else and drop it into a hole in the ice?

Re:Must we?

[rburgess3]

Note: I'm not singling you out for this, there are a bunch of such statements in the threads below, you were just the first.

You aren't serious are you? I simply cannot believe that you got modded up as 'insightful'. Where would you be without the vikings or Columbus? (I'm assuming that you live in the U.S., if not, please insert appropriate exploratory hero). Exploration is central to what it means to be human. Not exploring is not an option. The only question that remains is 'How?'

One of the things that you cannot avoid when exploring is changing an environment, not to mention that no environment on Earth (or anywhere else, for that matter) is static, it's going to change anyway. From quantum mechanics to sociology, the mere presence of an observer changes the environment to be studied.

It is the job of scientists who are exploring previously shut off or shut in environments to do what they can to minimize the change caused by their presence. That's what guidlines and ethics committees are for. Do you for one instant think that any plan for exploration of this previously unknown ecology is not going to pass through the hands of some ethical authority?

You, sir, have no idea of how science really works. For a wonderful example of how science is really done around fragile and unexplored ecosystems, feel free to educate yourself by googling for Lake Vostock. Scientists have put off their attempts to explore the lake for years because of fear of overt contamination (specifically the micro-organisms that live in the gasoline used to lubricate the drill-bits, amongst a host of others). Here is another good article that explains just how acutely aware of the ethical decisions scientists are.

Reactionary attitudes like yours serve absolutely no one and simply prove that you haven't bothered to learn how real scientists go about their work before posting smarmy comments.

Re:pandora's box?

[Gilgaron]

It is more likely you'd transfer fish or invertebrate pathogens than human pathogens.

Most microorganisms have a fairly narrow band of temperatures at which they can grow. The S. aureus on your skin will not like growing in artic temperatures and a psychrophile living in the arctic will probably not like living on your skin much, either.

Now, with fish from just outside this region and fish inside this region your concerns could be more valid, since they would be under similar environmental conditions and have different immunities.

Re:pandora's box?

[Sique]

On the other hand: All parasites, virii and bacteria in this pool are completely adapted to the lifeforms in this pool for millions of years and thus probably completely unable to cope with lifefroms from the outside. Ergo: No infection, because of far reaching incompatibility.

Re:There is nothing down there

[prof_peabody]

step out from under your rock. There has been a substantial amount of literature published on seep and vent communities at depths of over 4000 m. There are patches with lots going on. Don't get me started on Archaea.

Re:Beer companies will be all over this

[petsounds]

Actually, you can already drink water that old. Trinity Water is taken from a 2.2 mile deep spring under Idaho. It's been carbon-dated at over 16,000 years old and is basically as pure as it was then due to the granite formation protecting the source below from groundwater contamination. Best water I've had..something about the unique mineral content.

Re:They will find death.

[igny]

Radioactive waste is not poisonous, it is mutagenic.

Re:They will find death.

[Dolohov]

Ever heard of radiation poisoning?

Besides, several nuclear fuel materials are poisonous in their own right.

Re:ah the ocean

[argStyopa]

I think his/her point is that

(anything)/(finite number) > (anything)/(infinity)

Thus the percentage of ocean explored will always be higher than space explored, even when we've explored the entirety of our galaxy.

Re:Doubt it

[Ayaress]

Your logic doesn't work. Yes, it CAN go anywhere, but in most cases, it doesn't go anywhere. The Colecanth lives only in a rather limited range. It could swim right up iver to Florida and flop on out the beach and scare the children, but as yet, none have tried that. Also, Arctic water is colder, denser, and less saline than the water in the North Atlantic or Pacific, and many of its animals die of shock when abnormally warm weather brings warm Atlantic water up into the Arctic.