Researchers have discovered that there may be something monstrous living below Antarctica's icy surface, as big as 5 million square kilometres. The frozen continent is usually thought of as a hostile climate with only certain breeds of animals such as penguins, seals and fish being able to live there, the Daily Star reports
However, scientists have been studying blooms of photosynthetic algae, which emerges in the summer months when the ocean ice dissolves. It's been believed for a long time that the algae only appeared in the warmer months as Antarctica's hefty layer of solid ice would stop any sunlight from getting through.
However, new research carried out by a team from Brown University in the US and New Zealand's University of Auckland implies there could be a colossal mass of it living permanently under the surface of the continent, Newsweek reported. Christopher Horvat, who led the study, told the publication: "Finding these blooms helps challenge the paradigm that regions under sea ice are devoid of life, and introduces important new questions about the food webs that might lie under the ice in Antarctica.
