How does something live in this very cold area?
Jeff Bowman explains how in the petals of the Frost Flower, life can survive in the Arctic ( Science Article and Diigo Notes — sign in) and in the Antarctic (Science Article and Diigo Notes ).
Open the notes, and see how the text connects to this summary:
Seawater turns to ice at -1.8° C
The ice has two parts: fresh ice crystals and salty liquid water
The ice crystals make the structure of the flower.
With more cold, more crystals form with less liquid.
Anything in the ice that isn’t water is forced out into the liquid.
The salt, the organisms, and anything else moves into the liquid.
The organisms must be able to live in this very salty liquid (called brine)– pockets of life in Frost Flowers on sea-ice.
1. Can you draw a series of pictures with labels to show this?
2. What is this important? Take a look at Antarctic Wildlife to infer why.
Next post: How do the organisms survive, and how do the scientists study them?