Until now, it’s been a common belief that the packed sea ice of the Southern Ocean blocked all light from reaching the sea beneath, preventing phytoplankton—tiny algae that are the base of aquatic food webs—from growing there. The less light available, the less the phytoplankton can photosynthesize and therefore the less phytoplankton there will be, heavily restricting life beneath the ice.
Click here for original story, Vast phytoplankton blooms may be lurking beneath Antarctic ice
Source: Phys.org