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Increased exposure of Southern Ocean phytoplankton to ultraviolet radiation
Author(s) -
Lubin Dan,
Arrigo Kevin R.,
van Dijken Gert L.
Publication year - 2004
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 - 10.1029/2004gl019633
Subject(s) - phytoplankton , oceanography , ozone depletion , environmental science , ultraviolet radiation , satellite , ozone , geology , meteorology , geography , ecology , nutrient , biology , chemistry , astronomy , physics , radiochemistry
Satellite remote sensing of both surface solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and chlorophyll over two decades shows that biologically significant ultraviolet radiation increases began to occur over the Southern Ocean three years before the ozone “hole” was discovered. Beginning in October 1983, the most frequent occurrences of enhanced UVR over phytoplankton‐rich waters occurred in the Weddell Sea and Indian Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean, impacting 60% of the surface biomass by the late 1990s. These results suggest two reasons why more serious impacts to the base of the marine food web may not have been detected by field experiments: (1) the onset of UVR increases several years before dedicated field work began may have impacted the most sensitive organisms long before such damage could be detected, and (2) most biological field work has so far not taken place in Antarctic waters most extensively subjected to enhanced UVR.