Life on the Edge: Photos from Drilling the Ross Ice Shelf

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Fish, amphipods and jellyfish are among the creatures discovered in the cold, dark world under Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf by researchers with the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project. The scientists are the first to punch through an Antarctic ice shelf into the grounding zone, where these thick, floating ice layers leave land and transition to the sea. Here are some of the incredible images from this first look at one of the world's most extreme environments.

This translucent fish, about 8 inches (20 centimeters) long, lives under nearly 2,500 feet (740 meters) of permanent ice that is roughly 530 miles (850 kilometers) from the open ocean. (Photo credit: Deep-SCINI, UNL Andrill SMO team)

A fish swims in front of a remotely-operated camera in the grounding zone. (Image credit: WISSARD/NSF)

 

A fish swims in front of a remotely-operated camera in the grounding zone. (Photo credit: WISSARD/NSF)

An amphipod, a type of crustacean, swims on the seafloor beneath the ice. (Image credit: Deep SCINI team (UNL Andrill SMO))

 

An amphipod, a type of crustacean, swims on the seafloor beneath the ice. (Photo credit: Deep SCINI team, UNL Andrill SMO)

An amphipod recovered from seawater under the Ross Ice Shelf. (Image credit: Reed Scherer (NIU))

 

An amphipod recovered from seawater under the Ross Ice Shelf. (Photo credit: Reed Scherer, NIU)

Ancient marine sediments frozen into the ice shelf. (Image credit: Deep-SCINI UNL Andrill SMO team)

Ancient marine sediments frozen into the ice shelf. (Photo credit: Deep SCINI team, UNL Andrill SMO)

 

Debris raining out into the seawater from the melting bottom of the ice shelf. (Image credit: Deep SCINI team (UNL Andrill SMO))

 

Debris raining out into the seawater from the melting bottom of the ice shelf. (Photo credit: Deep SCINI team, UNL Andrill SMO)

A geothermal probe begin lowered into the borehole on the Ross Ice Shelf. (Image credit: Sarah Neuhaus (UCSC))

UCSC Geothermal Probe being lowered into the borehole by a crane on the deck of the drilling platform. (Photo credit: Sarah Neuhaus, UCSC)

 

WISSARD drilling camp at the Ross Ice Shelf grounding zone. (Image credit: Sarah Neuhaus (UCSC))

WISSARD drilling camp at the Ross Ice Shelf grounding zone. (Photo credit: Sarah Neuhaus, UCSC)

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Becky Oskin
Becky Oskin
Contributing Writer
Becky Oskin covers Earth science, climate change and space, as well as general science topics. Becky was a science reporter at Live Science and The Pasadena Star-News; she has freelanced for New Scientist and the American Institute of Physics. She earned a master's degree in geology from Caltech, a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.