Glacier reveals secrets of the deep

SYDNEY: crash of an iceberg in a glacier in Antarctica last year cracked off a huge heavy ice, highlighting a period of vast Southern Ocean and provide scientists a chance to conduct experiments that may help understand climate change.

The incident, in which the iceberg off the Mertz Glacier in East Antarctica and broke about 78 km (48 miles) from the snout, exposed part of the sea water which were previously hundreds of meters of ice and exposed marine life, including sea stars as big as hubcaps.

"Suddenly, the geometry of Antarctica has changed," said Steve Rintoul, an oceanographer at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre at CSIRO in Tasmania.

"It was a sort of natural experiment, where the calving of the glacier was not caused by climate change. This is a natural event, if nature has been the experience for us this time. "

A team of 40 Australian and international scientists, including Rintoul, visited the area during the Antarctic summer to study the impact of littering.

Among the unexpected results was the biological release of about 10,000 square meters of ice in the ocean when he felt himself sinking into warmer waters.