Hidden Production: On the Importance of Pelagic Phytoplankton Blooms Beneath Arctic Sea Ice

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Authors
Kinney, Jaclyn Clement
Maslowski, Wieslaw
Osinski, Robert
Jin, Meibing
Frants, Marina
Jeffery, Nicole
Lee, Younjoo J.
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2020
Date
Publisher
AGU
Language
Abstract
Recent observations suggest that substantial phytoplankton blooms occur under sea ice on Arctic continental shelves during June and July. This is opposed to the traditional view that no significant biomass is produced in sea‐ice covered waters. However, no observational estimates are available on the Arctic‐wide primary production beneath sea ice. Here, using a fully coupled Arctic system model, we estimate that 63%/41% of the total primary production in the central Arctic occurs in waters covered by sea ice that is ≥50%/≥85% concentration. The total primary production there is increasing at a rate of 5.2% per decade during 1980–2018. Increased light transmission, due to the removal of sea ice, more extensive melt ponds, and thinner sea ice, is implicated as the main cause of increasing trends in primary production.
Type
Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016211
Series/Report No
Department
Oceanography
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
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NPS Report Number
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Format
9 p.
Citation
Clement Kinney, J., Maslowski, W., Osinski, R., Jin, M., Frants, M., Jeffery, N., & Lee, Y. J. (2020). Hidden production: On the importance of pelagic phytoplankton blooms beneath Arctic Sea ice. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125, e2020JC016211. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016211
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.
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