Giant Blooms of Microscopic Life Seem to Be Thriving Beneath Antarctic Ice

The Southern Ocean's vast shelves of floating ice appear to hide blooms of phytoplankton, a discovery that could change our understanding of Antarctica's marine environment and how it might be impacted by climate change

Up to this point experts didn't think there was much chance for the plankton to thrive in the dark under the ice shelves.

As the glaciers become more fragmented, more seasonal, thinner, and more susceptible to melting water, there have been discoveries of phytoplankton blooms under the ice. Researchers took a new look at the area.

Satellite data of sea ice coverage and outputs from climate models were used to estimate the amount of phytoplankton that might extend beneath the ice, hidden from view.

Christopher Horvat is a polar oceanographer from the University of New Zealand.

We observed a lot of blooms.

When they sense near-freezing water temperatures, these floats can take evasive action. They were given the task of measuring the levels of the two indicators.

A total of 51 floats took measurement during 2,197 dives. A record of ice cover was provided by satellite imagery which was used to collect a mass of data.

Horvat says that 50 percent or more of the under-iceAntarctic might support under-ice blooms because of the sea ice in the Southern Ocean.

88 percent of the measured sequence recorded a rise in plankton before any retreat of sea ice, which is when the growth of plankton tends to pick up.

The scientists behind the study say there's good, solid evidence that these blooms are happening, even though there is some uncertainty over the data due to occasional lag between sampling and position logging.

Variations in their availability and coverage can have a significant effect on the rest of the aquatic life in the area.

The researchers will gather more data and figure out how the plankton blooms will affect other forms of life under the ice. It should help us understand how global warming will affect ice cover.

One might expect the food web to follow if the productivity is under the ice.

It has been published in a journal.