http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=9460&utm_source=feedburner&...

| More Published on 31 August 2010, 02:01

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Categories: Marine Science West Antarctic Ice Sheet Global sea level Bryozoans Global Change

Marine animals suggest evidence for a trans-Antarctic seaway

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A tiny marine filter-feeder, that anchors itself to the sea bed, offers new clues to scientists studying the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet — a region that is thought to be vulnerable to collapse.

As part of a study for the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) analysed sea-bed colonies of bryozoans from coastal and deep sea regions around the continent and from further afield. They found striking similarities in particular species of bryozoans living on the continental shelves of two seas — the Ross and Weddell — that are around 1,500 miles apart and separated by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.