Estimates of nutrient demand by dense mats of ice algae in the high Arctic indicate that substantial nutrient fluxes are necessary to satisfy the observed growth over the 2-month bloom. In our study area, Barrow Strait, the quantity of nutrients in the surface-mixed layer is about 3-10 times greater than estimates of total demand during the bloom, and nutrient fluxes in the water column are estimated to be of the same order of magnitude as algal demand. The fluxes in the water column are predicted to vary by more than an order of magnitude over the fortnightly tidal cycle, assuming that fluxes depend upon the strength of tidal currents and the vertical nutrient gradients. In the latter half of the bloom, when biomass levels are high, it appears that established populations of ice algae may experience cyclic conditions of nutrient limitation during neap tides when nutrient fluxes are minimal. Contributions from regeneration and brine exclusion from the ice sheet appear to satisfy only a portion of the bloom's total requirement for nutrients. INTRODUCTIONDense growths of ice algae are a ubiquitous feature beneath annual sea ice in polar regions during the springtime. In the high Arctic these microalgae are largely concentrated at the ice-water interface on or within the skeletal layer of the congelation ice. MacroScopically, they resemble a mottled goldenbrown carpet about 1-2 cm thick. We have found that these algae grow for at least 2 months (April-May) in the central portion of the Northwest Passage. Moreover, the ice alga. e often achieve high levels of biomass (80-100 mg chlorophyll m -e) that are similar to water column values integrated over the depth of the euphotic zone in many planktonic systems.

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