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Distribution and composition of suspended biogenic particles in surface waters across Subarctic and Arctic Seas
Author(s) -
Wyatt Shea N.,
Crawford David W.,
Wrohan Ian A.,
Varela Diana E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1002/2013jc009214
Subject(s) - subarctic climate , photic zone , arctic , oceanography , chlorophyll a , bay , canada basin , transect , phytoplankton , environmental science , geology , chemistry , nutrient , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Suspended biogenic particles were examined across Subarctic and Arctic Seas during the Canada‐Three‐Oceans (C3O) program in the summers of 2007 and 2008. Particulate organic carbon (POC) and nitrogen (PON), biogenic silica (bSiO 2 ), and size‐fractionated chlorophyll a (chl a ) concentrations were measured within the euphotic zone throughout five domains: Eastern Subarctic North Pacific (ESNP), Bering and Chukchi Seas (BE‐CH), Southern Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin (BS‐CB), Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), and Baffin Bay and Labrador Sea (BB‐LS). Despite large variability along the sampling transect and vertically throughout the euphotic zone, domain averages of depth‐integrated POC and PON were relatively invariant across the ESNP, BE‐CH, CAA, and BB‐LS, ranging from 546 to 670 mmol m −2 (POC) and 101 to 154 mmol m −2 (PON), but were much lower in BS‐CB (199 and 78 mmol m −2 , respectively). In contrast, depth‐integrated bSiO 2 averages were highest in BE‐CH and CAA (>100 mmol m −2 ), intermediate in ESNP and BB‐LS (34–48 mmol m −2 ), and low in BS‐CB (6 mmol m −2 ). Similarly to the bSiO 2 distribution, the biomass of the >5 μm chl a size‐fraction averaged 68–69% of total chl a in BE‐CH and CAA, 56% in BB‐LS, and 22–23% in ESNP and BS‐CB. Ratios of bSiO 2 :PON averaged 1.10–1.30 in BE‐CH and CAA, 0.30–0.34 in ESNP and BB‐LS, and 0.08 in BS‐CB. This study highlights the relative importance of siliceous phytoplankton such as diatoms in BE‐CH and CAA, smaller nonsiliceous cells in BS‐CB and ESNP, and a mixed assemblage of variably sized phytoplankton with a less siliceous component in BB‐LS.