News Earth Life thrived below solid ice shelf By Sid Perkins August 2, 2005 at 12:54 pm - More than 2 years ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Share on X (Opens in new window) X Print (Opens in new window) Print An area of Antarctic seafloor that until recently was covered by thick, floating ice is host to a several-millennia-old ecosystem apparently based on chemical nourishment, not sunshine, according to a recent underwater survey of the area. More than 60 percent of the Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated and drifted away early in 2002 (SN: 3/30/02, p. 197: Available to subscribers at All Cracked Up from the Heat? Major hunk of an Antarctic ice shelf shatters and drifts away).