A new study has resulted in a fascinating new digital map of what's sitting on the sea floor -- a creature that has important implications for climate change.
A new digital map has been released of the sea floor, and it reveals massive graveyards for this extremely important creature.
It’s plankton, and these “microfossil” graveyards can be found off the coast of Australia and other areas, based on research that was published this week in the journal Geology, according to a Live Science report.
It’s the first ever digital map of global sea floor composition, with the last attempt to make a map of any kind happening all the way back in the 1970s.
The original maps suggest that much of the Southern Ocean around Australia is covered by clay from the continent, but the new digital map indicates it’s a patchwork of microfossil remains, indicating that life in this area is much richer than scientists had believed.
These microfossils of plankton are important for climate change because when they die, they sink to the bottom and carry carbon with them, creating a “carbon sink” effect.
