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Photoproduction of carbon monoxide in first‐year sea ice in Franklin Bay, southeastern Beaufort Sea
Author(s) -
Xie Huixiang,
Gosselin Michel
Publication year - 2005
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 - 10.1029/2005gl022803
Subject(s) - sea ice , oceanography , arctic ice pack , bay , beaufort sea , seawater , colored dissolved organic matter , arctic , sea ice thickness , environmental science , dissolved organic carbon , geology , organic matter , atmospheric sciences , chemistry , phytoplankton , organic chemistry , nutrient
The concentration of carbon monoxide ([CO]) in first‐year ice in Franklin Bay, southeastern Beaufort Sea, was ∼40 times higher than in the underlying seawater and ∼15 times higher than in the adjacent open water. The [CO] in the sea ice decreased with increasing depth and increased rapidly at the bottom where there was an abundance of ice microalgae. The depth distribution of [CO] was consistent with a photochemical source of this compound in sea ice, which was further inferred from the vertical profiles of the dissolved organic matter absorption coefficients and directly verified by incubation of ice samples refrozen from melted ice. Results from this study suggest that substantial photooxidation of organic matter occurs in sea ice. This process may affect the organic carbon cycle in the Arctic Ocean. The potential flux of CO from sea ice to the Arctic atmosphere is estimated to be 1.4 × 10 10 moles a −1 .