[](https://www.usatestprep.com/modules/questions/qq.php?testid=1021&assignment_id=11827507&strand=5068&element=40498&totalQuestions=10&ck=UTOKOVJB7M0G2&condition=random#) Icebergs have long gripped the popular imagination, whether as relatively run-of-the

Icebergs have long gripped the popular imagination, whether as relatively run-of-the-mill floating hazards that cause "unsinkable' ships to founder or, more recently, as enormous breakaway pieces of ice the size of states or small countries.

But, according to a paper published in this week's Science magazine, scientists have discovered that these floating ice islands--some as large as a dozen miles across--have a major impact on the ecology of the ocean around them, serving as "hotspots" for ocean life, with thriving communities of seabirds above and a web of phytoplankton, krill and fish below.