Massive phytoplankton blooms under Arctic sea ice.
Phytoplankton blooms over Arctic Ocean continental shelves are thought to be restricted to waters free of sea ice. Here, we document a massive phytoplankton bloom beneath fully consolidated pack ice far from the ice edge in the Chukchi Sea, where light transmission has increased in recent decades because of thinning ice cover and proliferation of melt ponds. The bloom was characterized by high diatom biomass and rates of growth and primary production. Evidence suggests that under-ice phytoplankton blooms may be more widespread over nutrient-rich Arctic continental shelves and that satellite-based estimates of annual primary production in these waters may be underestimated by up to 10-fold.
Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. arrigo@stanford.edu
Kevin R
KR
Arrigo
Donald K
DK
Perovich
Robert S
RS
Pickart
Zachary W
ZW
Brown
Gert L
GL
van Dijken
Kate E
KE
Lowry
Matthew M
MM
Mills
Molly A
MA
Palmer
William M
WM
Balch
Frank
F
Bahr
Nicholas R
NR
Bates
Claudia
C
Benitez-Nelson
Bruce
B
Bowler
Emily
E
Brownlee
Jens K
JK
Ehn
Karen E
KE
Frey
Rebecca
R
Garley
Samuel R
SR
Laney
Laura
L
Lubelczyk
Jeremy
J
Mathis
Atsushi
A
Matsuoka
B Greg
BG
Mitchell
G W K
GW
Moore
Eva
E
Ortega-Retuerta
Sharmila
S
Pal
Chris M
CM
Polashenski
Rick A
RA
Reynolds
Brian
B
Schieber
Heidi M
HM
Sosik
Michael
M
Stephens
James H
JH
Swift
D001110:Arctic Regions; D018533:Biomass; D017377:Diatoms / Q000254:growth & development; D005068:Eutrophication; D046448:Ice Cover; D008027:Light; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010788:Photosynthesis; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex / Q000032:analysis; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000254:growth & development*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry
D009566:Nitrates; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex