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Sea‐ice retreat controls timing of summer plankton blooms in the Eastern Arctic Ocean
Author(s) -
Janout Markus A.,
Hölemann Jens,
Waite Anya M.,
Krumpen Thomas,
Appen WilkenJon,
Martynov Fedor
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl071232
Subject(s) - oceanography , sea ice , pelagic zone , environmental science , algal bloom , bloom , arctic ice pack , plankton , arctic , stratification (seeds) , antarctic sea ice , geology , arctic sea ice decline , phytoplankton , climatology , nutrient , ecology , seed dormancy , botany , germination , dormancy , biology
Two full‐year mooring records of sea‐ice, physical, and bio‐optical parameters illuminate tight temporal coupling between the retreating seasonal ice edge and the summer phytoplankton bloom on the Laptev Sea shelf. Our records showed no sign of pelagic under‐ice blooms despite available nutrients and thinning sea ice in early summer, presumably because stratification had not yet developed. Chlorophyll blooms were detected immediately after the ice retreated in late May 2014 and late July 2015. Despite radically different timing, the blooms were similar in both magnitude and length, interpreted as community‐level nutrient limitation. Acoustic backscatter records suggest the delayed 2015 bloom resulted in lower zooplankton abundance, perhaps due to a timing mismatch between ice algal and pelagic blooms and unfavorable thermal conditions. Our observations provide classical examples of ice‐edge blooms and further emphasize the complexity of high‐latitude shelves and the need to understand vertical mixing processes important for stratification and nutrient fluxes.