Contribution of under‐ice primary production to an ice‐edge upwelling phytoplankton bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea

Mundy, C. J.; Gosselin, Michel; Ehn, Jens K.; Gratton, Yves; Rossnagel, Andrea L; Barber, David G.; Martin, Jean‐Louis; Tremblay, Jean‐Éric; Palmer, Molly A.; Arrigo, Kevin R.; Darnis, Gérald; Fortier, Louis; Else, Brent; Papakyriakou, Tim

doi:10.1029/2009gl038837

Cited by 228 publications

(238 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In the Cape Bathurst Polynya, rates are higher, reaching 90-175 g C m -2 year -1 (Arrigo and van Dijken 2004). Intensive blooms related to ice-edge upwelling events were documented for coastal regions of the Amundsen Gulf, including Franklin Bay, in June 2008 (Mundy et al 2009;Tremblay pers. comm.…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spring-to-summer changes and regional variability of benthic processes in the western Canadian Arctic

et al. 2011

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Seasonal dynamics in the activity of Arctic shelf benthos have been the subject of few local studies, and the pronounced among-site variability characterizing their results makes it difficult to upscale and generalize their conclusions. In a regional study encompassing five sites at 100-595 m water depth in the southeastern Beaufort Sea, we found that total pigment concentrations in surficial sediments, used as proxies of general food supply to the benthos, rose significantly after the transition from ice-covered conditions in spring (March-June 2008) to open-water conditions in summer (June-August 2008), whereas sediment Chl a concentrations, typical markers of fresh food input, did not. Macrobenthic biomass (including agglutinated foraminifera [500 lm) varied significantly among sites (1.2-6.4 g C m -2 in spring, 1.1-12.6 g C m -2 in summer), whereas a general spring-to-summer increase was not detected. Benthic carbon remineralisation also ranged significantly among sites (11.9-33.2 mg C m -2 day -1 in spring, 11.6-44.4 mg C m -2 day -1 in summer) and did in addition exhibit a general significant increase from spring-to-summer. Multiple regression analysis suggests that in both spring and summer, sediment Chl a concentration is the prime determinant of benthic carbon remineralisation, but other factors have a significant secondary influence, such as foraminiferan biomass (negative in both seasons), water depth (in spring) and infaunal biomass (in summer). Our findings indicate the importance of the combined and dynamic effects of food supply and benthic community patterns on the carbon remineralisation of the polar shelf benthos in seasonally ice-covered seas.

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Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spring-to-summer changes and regional variability of benthic processes in the western Canadian Arctic

et al. 2011

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“…Arctic ice-edge blooms can also be the continuation of under-ice blooms, which can develop when under-ice light conditions are favourable after surface melt onset [Fortier et al, 2002;Mundy et al, 2009] and can cover extensive areas [Arrigo et al, 2012]. These blooms can be highly productive and support high biomasses, indicating that current estimates of Arctic primary production are underestimated [Arrigo et al, 2012].…”

Section: Light Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of sea ice in global biogeochemical cycles: emerging views and challenges

Vancoppenolle

Meiners

Michel

et al. 2013

Quaternary Science Reviews

212

215

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International audienceObservations from the last decade suggest an important role of sea ice in the global biogeochemical cycles, promoted by (i) active biological and chemical processes within the sea ice; (ii) fluid and gas exchanges at the sea ice interface through an often permeable sea ice cover; and (iii) tight physical, biological and chemical interactions between the sea ice, the ocean and the atmosphere. Photosynthetic micro-organisms in sea ice thrive in liquid brine inclusions encased in a pure ice matrix, where they find suitable light and nutrient levels. They extend the production season, provide a winter and early spring food source, and contribute to organic carbon export to depth. Under-ice and ice edge phytoplankton blooms occur when ice retreats, favoured by increasing light, stratification, and by the release of material into the water column. In particular, the release of iron - highly concentrated in sea ice - could have large effects in the iron-limited Southern Ocean. The export of inorganic carbon transport by brine sinking below the mixed layer, calcium carbonate precipitation in sea ice, as well as active ice-atmosphere carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes, could play a central role in the marine carbon cycle. Sea ice processes could also significantly contribute to the sulphur cycle through the large production by ice algae of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), the precursor of sulphate aerosols, which as cloud condensation nuclei have a potential cooling effect on the planet. Finally, the sea ice zone supports significant ocean-atmosphere methane (CH₄) fluxes, while saline ice surfaces activate springtime atmospheric bromine chemistry, setting ground for tropospheric ozone depletion events observed near both poles. All these mechanisms are generally known, but neither precisely understood nor quantified at large scales. As polar regions are rapidly changing, understanding the large-scale polar marine biogeochemical processes and their future evolution is of high priority. Earth system models should in this context prove essential, but they currently represent sea ice as biologically and chemically inert. Palaeoclimatic proxies are also relevant, in particular the sea ice proxies, inferring past sea ice conditions from glacial and marine sediment core records and providing analogues for future changes. Being highly constrained by marine biogeochemistry, sea ice proxies would not only contribute to but also benefit from a better understanding of polar marine biogeochemical cycles

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“…Accelerated heat uptake by pond-covered ice increases the rate at which its temperature related brine volume fraction increases to the point at which the fluid permeability threshold is crossed (Golden et al, 1998) and biogeochemical exchanges with the underlying ocean become possible (see Vancoppenolle et al, 2013, for a review). Light transmission to the underlying ocean occurs at an order of magnitude greater rate on pondcovered ice compared to bare ice (Inoue et al, 2008;Light et al, 2008;Ehn et al, 2011;Frey et al, 2011), which leads to ocean warming (Perovich et al, 2007) and stimulates underice primary production (Mundy et al, 2009;Arrigo et al, 2012). Ocean surface warming has been linked to subsequent reductions in seasonal ice volume due to its effect on the timing of seasonal melt onset and fall freeze-up (Laxon et al,…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-year sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR – Part 2: Scaling in situ to Radarsat-2

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Sea ice melt pond fraction (f p ), linked with lower sea ice surface albedo and increased light transmittance to the ocean, is inadequately parameterised in sea ice models due to a lack of observations. In this paper, results from a multiscale remote-sensing program dedicated to the retrieval of level first-year sea ice (FYI) f p from dual co-and crosspolarisation C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter are detailed. Models which utilise the dominant effect of free-water melt ponds on the VV/HH (vertical transmit and vertical receive/horizontal transmit and horizontal receive) polarisation ratio at high incidence angles are tested for their ability to provide estimates of the subscale f p . Retrieved f p from noise-corrected Radarsat-2 quad-polarisation scenes are in good agreement with observations from coincident aerial survey data, with root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 0.05-0.07 obtained during intermediate and late stages of ponding. Weak model performance is attributed to the presence of wet snow and slush during initial ponding, and a synoptically driven freezing event causing ice lids to form on ponds. The HV/HH (horizontal transmit and vertical receive/horizontal transmit and horizontal receive) ratio explains a greater portion of variability in f p , compared to VV/HH, when ice lids are present. Generally low HV channel intensity suggests limited applications using dual crosspolarisation data, except with systems that have exceptionally low noise floors. Results demonstrate the overall potential of dual-polarisation SAR for standalone or complementary observations of f p for process-scale studies and improvements to model parameterisations.

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Contribution of under‐ice primary production to an ice‐edge upwelling phytoplankton bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea

Cited by 228 publications

References 25 publications

Spring-to-summer changes and regional variability of benthic processes in the western Canadian Arctic

Spring-to-summer changes and regional variability of benthic processes in the western Canadian Arctic

Role of sea ice in global biogeochemical cycles: emerging views and challenges

First-year sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR – Part 2: Scaling in situ to Radarsat-2

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