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The seeding of ice algal blooms in Arctic pack ice: The multiyear ice seed repository hypothesis
Author(s) -
Olsen Lasse M.,
Laney Samuel R.,
Duarte Pedro,
Kauko Hanna M.,
FernándezMéndez Mar,
Mundy Christopher J.,
Rösel Anja,
Meyer Amelie,
Itkin Polona,
Cohen Lana,
Peeken Ilka,
Tatarek Agnieszka,
RóźańskaPluta Magdalena,
Wiktor Józef,
Taskjelle Torbjørn,
Pavlov Alexey K.,
Hudson Stephen R.,
Granskog Mats A.,
Hop Haakon,
Assmy Philipp
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: biogeosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8961
pISSN - 2169-8953
DOI - 10.1002/2016jg003668
Subject(s) - sea ice , arctic ice pack , oceanography , antarctic sea ice , drift ice , fast ice , arctic , environmental science , geology , diatom , melt pond
During the Norwegian young sea ICE expedition (N‐ICE2015) from January to June 2015 the pack ice in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard was studied during four drifts between 83° and 80°N. This pack ice consisted of a mix of second year, first year, and young ice. The physical properties and ice algal community composition was investigated in the three different ice types during the winter‐spring‐summer transition. Our results indicate that algae remaining in sea ice that survived the summer melt season are subsequently trapped in the upper layers of the ice column during winter and may function as an algal seed repository. Once the connectivity in the entire ice column is established, as a result of temperature‐driven increase in ice porosity during spring, algae in the upper parts of the ice are able to migrate toward the bottom and initiate the ice algal spring bloom. Furthermore, this algal repository might seed the bloom in younger ice formed in adjacent leads. This mechanism was studied in detail for the dominant ice diatom Nitzschia frigida . The proposed seeding mechanism may be compromised due to the disappearance of older ice in the anticipated regime shift toward a seasonally ice‐free Arctic Ocean.