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by mewo2
3450 days ago
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I think there are some microorganisms in the snowpack, but other than that it's a pretty barren place, at least above the water. Below, a lot of sea life congregates around the ice front - there are nutrients that melt out of the ice - and this supports an ecosystem, but that should all just move to the new ice front. The iceberg itself will probably support a small marine ecosystem as it floats away and melts. I'm not an ecologist though, so I'm hazy on the details. |
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Just guessing:
There might be tardigrades. They can withstand extremes of hot and cold. First saw them mentioned here on HN some time ago. Amazing creatures. From the Wikipedia article:
Tardigrades are notable for being the most resilient animal: they can survive extreme conditions that would be rapidly fatal to nearly all other known life forms. They can withstand temperature ranges from 1 K (−458 °F; −272 °C) (close to absolute zero) to about 420 K (300 °F; 150 °C),[8] pressures about six times greater than those found in the deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than the lethal dose for a human, and the vacuum of outer space.[9] They can go without food or water for more than 30 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce.[3][10][11][12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade