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

which statement supports the article's claim that, "scientists have discovered that these floating ice a major impact on the ecology of the ocean around them"?

a) "the nsf coordinates all u. s. research conducted on the southernmost continent."
b) "the nsf research was conducted by scientists from the monterey bay aquarium research institute."
c) "nsf officials agree that the new research may open a new and productive field for ecosystem research."
d) " estimate that icebergs are raising the biological productivity of nearly 40 percent of the weddell sea."
eliminate