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[NASA] Ailing “Megaberg” Sparks Surge of Microscopic Life

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  3. Ailing “Megaberg” Sparks…
 


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Natural color
Chlorophyll

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NASA Earth Observatory

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NASA Earth Observatory
Natural colorChlorophyll

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NASA Earth Observatory
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NASA Earth Observatory

Natural color

Chlorophyll

January 25, 2026


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Iceberg

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has had a more eventful run than most of the large Antarctic icebergs that have calved from the continent’s
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in recent decades. Over its winding, forty-plus-year journey, the “megaberg” spent decades grounded in the Weddell Sea before
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,
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in an ocean vortex for months, and
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with an island in 2025.

By 2026, the iconic iceberg, sopping with meltwater and shedding smaller bergs as it moved into warmer ocean waters, put on one more show. The chunks of ice and frigid glacial meltwater left in its wake appear to have fueled a surge in

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abundance, known as a
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, observed in surface waters by NASA satellites.

Phytoplankton, which harvest sunlight to carry out photosynthesis, form the base of the marine food web. They also produce

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of the oxygen on Earth and serve as part of the ocean’s
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which transfers carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep ocean.

The

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(Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the
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captured this image (left) of the splintering
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on January 25, 2026. The image was acquired after several large pieces had drifted northwestward and then curled toward the northeast following the iceberg breaking apart on
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. A debris field full of
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small icebergs, and
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was visible east of the largest remaining pieces. Also on January 25, the
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(Ocean Color Instrument) on NASA’s
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(Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem) satellite detected plumes of
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(right) drifting around the remaining bergs and debris field. Researchers use chlorophyll concentrations as a marker of phytoplankton abundance.

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January 25, 2026

“This bloom is too big and too clearly spreading from the icebergs not to be strongly linked to them,” said Grant Bigg, an emeritus oceanographer at the University of Sheffield. Bigg, who has studied how large icebergs have

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in this region, noted that while blooms unconnected to icebergs do occur regularly here, satellite imagery shows a connection that has persisted for weeks—increasing his confidence that the iceberg and phytoplankton bloom are related.

The primary factors that limit phytoplankton in this region are access to light and nutrients, explained Heidi Dierssen, an oceanographer at the University of Connecticut. Light can be limiting even in the summer because phytoplankton are often mixed too deeply in the water column due to high winds and turbulence.

Melting icebergs can boost phytoplankton by both creating a stable surface layer with favorable growth conditions and releasing plumes of meltwater rich in iron—a key nutrient for phytoplankton that can be scarce in this part of the South Atlantic, she said.

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indicates that icebergs also often contain significant amounts of manganese and macronutrients, such as nitrates and phosphates, that can benefit phytoplankton. These nutrients often accumulate on icebergs through windblown dust or through contact with bedrock or soil.

The

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image above, captured by the
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(Operational Land Imager) on January 25, 2026, shows blue meltwater pooling on several of the larger fragments. The linear patterns are likely related to 
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 that were etched hundreds of years ago when the ice was part of a glacier moving across Antarctic bedrock. Brown staining, perhaps soil or sediment, is visible on some of the bergs.

Bigg also noted that the phytoplankton signal appears to be more concentrated near the smaller bergs, possibly because these are melting faster, releasing nutrient-rich material at a higher rate. Dierssen added that it’s also possible that chlorophyll concentrations may be higher near the largest bergs than they appear because algorithms sometimes overcorrect for

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near bright surfaces, like ice, when processing chlorophyll data.

Ivona Cetinić, a researcher on NASA’s

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, checked a database for clues about the smallest, or “pico,” phytoplankton swirling around the bergs. The tool, called
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(Multiple Ordination ANAlysis), taps into
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satellite observations of
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from PACE.

MOANA indicated that

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phytoplankton—microscopic
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organisms that respond quickly to changes in temperature or nutrient availability—were thriving in these waters when the image was captured. The swirls to the west of the berg were made of a slightly larger group of cyanobacteria called
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she said. The PACE team is currently developing additional tools that will help identify communities of larger types of phytoplankton, which were likely present as well.

Some

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suggests that icebergs may have contributed significantly to phytoplankton blooms in this region in recent years, possibly accounting for up to one-fifth of the Southern Ocean’s total
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. Other research teams have concluded that surface waters trailing icebergs were about
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to have increased amounts of phytoplankton compared to background levels.  

How long iceberg A-23A will enhance phytoplankton productivity before and after disintegrating completely remains an open question. NASA scientists watching the berg say it continued to shrink and shed mass in February, but as of

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, it remained just slightly above the
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required for naming and tracking by the U.S. National Ice Center.

Past research indicates that icebergs can sustain elevated chlorophyll concentrations for more than a month after passing through in trails that stretch for hundreds of kilometers. Icebergs and the blooms surrounding them have also been known to attract fish, seabirds, and other types of

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, highlighting the important ecological role they play.   

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS 

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, 
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, and the 
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, PACE data from the
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, and Landsat data from the 
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. Story Adam Voiland.

Downloads

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Suomi NPP, January 25, 2026

JPEG (1.71 MB)

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PACE, January 25, 2026

JPEG (1.29 MB)

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Landsat, January 25, 2026

JPEG (2.52 MB)

References & Resources

  • Duprat, L. et al. (2016)
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    . Nature Geoscience, 9, 219-221.
  • Eos (2016, January 15)
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    . Accessed March 5, 2026.
  • Knowable Magazine (2018, March 15)
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    . Accessed March 5, 2026.
  • Krause, J. et al. (2024)
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    . The Cryosphere, 18, 5735-5752.
  • Lucas, N., et al. (2025)
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    . Nature Geoscience, 18, 305-312.
  • NASA (2026)
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    . Accessed March 5, 2026.
  • NASA Earth Observatory (2026, January 8)
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    . Accessed March 5, 2026.
  • NASA Earth Observatory (2025, September 25)
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    . Accessed March 5, 2026.
  • Raiswell, R., et al. (2008)
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    . Geochemical Transitions, 9, 7.
  • Schwarz, J.N. & Schodlok, M.P. (2009)
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    . Oceanographic Research Papers, 56(10), 1727-1741.
  • Wu, S. & Hou, S. (2017)
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    . The Cryosphere, 11, 707-722

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