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- Title
Under‐Ice Phytoplankton Blooms in the Central Arctic Ocean: Insights From the First Biogeochemical IAOOS Platform Drift in 2017.
- Authors
Boles, Elisabeth; Provost, Christine; Garçon, Véronique; Bertosio, Cécilia; Athanase, Marylou; Koenig, Zoé; Sennéchael, Nathalie
- Abstract
In April 2017, the first Ice Atmosphere Arctic Ocean Observing System (IAOOS) platform equipped with biogeochemical sensors was deployed near the North Pole. Over the next 8 months it meandered southward with the ice, collecting measurements in the upper 250 m of Amundsen Basin, the Gakkel Ridge, Nansen Basin, and Fram Strait. Two distinct periods of primary production were encountered. The first bloom developed in the mixed layer in Amundsen Basin in May, reaching maximum chlorophyll a concentrations on the order of ~ 0.5 mg m−3 by the end of June. This bloom occurred earlier in the year than any other recorded bloom in Amundsen Basin, despite very limited under‐ice light due to a thick layer of snow. The second bloom, encountered in Nansen Basin in August, was significantly larger (mean profile maximum chlorophyll a was 1.45 mg m−3). Examinations of the optical community index and colored dissolved organic matter concentrations suggest that the spring bloom consisted of small phytoplankton which may have been mixotrophic, while the summer bloom contained a greater diversity of planktonic size classes. The data set demonstrates the heterogeneity of Arctic under‐ice primary production, and is a valuable resource for validating coupled Earth System models. Plain Language Summary: Two IAOOS (Ice Atmosphere Arctic Ocean Observing System) autonomous platforms were deployed in 2017 and drifted with the ice through the Western Eurasian Basin, documenting physical and biogeochemical quantities in the upper ocean. The data reveal two phytoplankton blooms under the sea ice. The first occurred in May through June, before major ice melt began. It is likely that the organisms found here were mostly small and may have depended in part on alternative sources of energy to photosynthesis in order to survive in the low‐light environment. The second bloom reached its peak in August and was able to grow much larger than the springtime bloom as it was well supplied with light and nutrients. This data set is an invaluable addition to our limited biological observations of the complex ecosystem under Arctic sea ice. Key Points: Two under‐ice blooms were observed during an autonomous platform drift in the Western Eurasian Basin from April to December 2017Unprecedentedly early spring bloom in Amundsen Basin consisted of potentially small, mixotrophic phytoplanktonThe summer bloom in Nansen Basin contained a greater diversity of planktonic size classes
- Subjects
ARCTIC Ocean; ALGAL blooms; BIOGEOCHEMISTRY; PHOTOSYNTHESIS; CHLOROPHYLL
- Publication
Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, 2020, Vol 125, Issue 3, p1
- ISSN
2169-9275
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2019JC015608