Sea ice and oxygen

Abstract

1) Atmospheric oxygen cycles on a seasonal basis, as does carbon dioxide. 2) Photosynthesis is likely contributing to these cycles, but the dominant spatial regions are unknown and the contribution of marine plankton has been assumed to be small. 3) I test and confirm the prediction that seasonal sea ice and oxygen rates are highly coherent at high latitudes, with peak oxygen emission in months of peak rates of sea ice loss within each Hemisphere. 4) The similarity of oxygen dynamics in Northern and Southern Hemispheres is consistent with the dominant seasonal fluxes of oxygen and carbon dioxide being marine. 5) The similar dynamics of oxygen and argon are also consistent with the dominant seasonal fluxes of oxygen being marine. 6) No stronger similarity has yet been found between seasonal changes in oxygen and terrestrial productivity (NDVI), but much more detailed comparison is required. 7) Air temperature near the Poles is very closely synchronized with the seasonal rate of change of oxygen at high latitudes. 8) These results are consistent with a hypothesised major influence of Arctic plankton in the seasonality of 'global' oxygen levels. 9) Determining causality requires far more observations and experimentation. 10) These results provide further evidence that polar phenomena have been neglected in studies of the oxygen and carbon cycles and are consistent with a proposed major role of high latitudes in these cycles.