Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: The Arctic icescape is rapidly transforming from a thicker multiyear ice cover to a thinner and largely seasonal first-year ice cover with significant consequences for Arctic primary production. One critical challenge is to understand how productivity will change within the next decades. Recent studies have reported extensive phytoplankton blooms beneath ponded sea ice during summer, indicating that satellite-based Arctic annual primary production estimates may be significantly underestimated. Here we present a unique time-series of a phytoplankton spring bloom observed beneath snow-covered Arctic pack ice. The bloom, dominated by the haptophyte algae Phaeocystis pouchetii , caused near depletion of the surface nitrate inventory and a decline in dissolved inorganic carbon by 16 ± 6 g C m −2 . Ocean circulation characteristics in the area indicated that the bloom developed in situ despite the snow-covered sea ice. Leads in the dynamic ice cover provided added sunlight necessary to initiate and sustain the bloom. Phytoplankton blooms beneath snow-covered ice might become more common and widespread in the future Arctic Ocean with frequent lead formation due to thinner and more dynamic sea ice despite projected increases in high-Arctic snowfall. This could alter productivity, marine food webs and carbon sequestration in the Arctic Ocean.
Source: Scientific Reports
DOI: 10.1038/srep40850
Authors: Philipp Assmy, Mar Fernández-Méndez, Pedro Duarte, Amelie Meyer, Achim Randelhoff, Christopher J. Mundy, Lasse M. Olsen, Hanna M. Kauko, Allison Bailey, Melissa Chierici, Lana Cohen, Anthony P. Doulgeris, Jens K. Ehn, Agneta Fransson, Sebastian Gerland, Haakon Hop, Stephen R. Hudson, Nick Hughes, Polona Itkin, Geir Johnsen, Jennifer A. King, Boris P. Koch, Zoe Koenig, Slawomir Kwasniewski, Samuel R. Laney, Marcel Nicolaus, Alexey K. Pavlov, Christopher M. Polashenski, Christine Provost, Anja Rösel, Marthe Sandbu, Gunnar Spreen, Lars H. Smedsrud, Arild Sundfjord, Torbjørn Taskjelle, Agnieszka Tatarek, Jozef Wiktor, Penelope M. Wagner, Anette Wold, Harald Steen, Mats A. Granskog
Institutions: Norwegian Polar Institute, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba, Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University Centre in Svalbard, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Instytut Oceanologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, United States Army, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, University of Bremen, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
Awards: Ice, Climate, and Economics - Arctic Research on Change, G1199359370, CORE VIOLENCE AND INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAM (CORE VIPP), G1975203353, G4137221350, G5436425014, G6194646602, Système d'observation de la glace, de l'atmopshère et de l'océan en Arctique, G7688019581, G7700281674, G8045113509, EuropeaN Energy balance Research to prevent excessive weight Gain among Youth
OpenAlex ID: W2573045486