skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Sea ice thermohaline dynamics and biogeochemistry in the Arctic Ocean: Empirical and model results

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003660· OSTI ID:1372795
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [6]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [6]
  1. Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromso (Norway)
  2. Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromso (Norway); Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, Trondheim (Norway)
  3. Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsa (Norway); UiT the Artic Univ. of Norway, Tromso (Norway)
  4. Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsa (Norway)
  5. Univ. in Bergen, Bergen (Norway)
  6. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Here, large changes in the sea ice regime of the Arctic Ocean have occurred over the last decades justifying the development of models to forecast sea ice physics and biogeochemistry. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the performance of the Los Alamos Sea Ice Model (CICE) to simulate physical and biogeochemical properties at time scales of a few weeks and to use the model to analyze ice algal bloom dynamics in different types of ice. Ocean and atmospheric forcing data and observations of the evolution of the sea ice properties collected from 18 April to 4 June 2015, during the Norwegian young sea ICE expedition, were used to test the CICE model. Our results show the following: (i) model performance is reasonable for sea ice thickness and bulk salinity; good for vertically resolved temperature, vertically averaged Chl a concentrations, and standing stocks; and poor for vertically resolved Chl a concentrations. (ii) Improving current knowledge about nutrient exchanges, ice algal recruitment, and motion is critical to improve sea ice biogeochemical modeling. (iii) Ice algae may bloom despite some degree of basal melting. (iv) Ice algal motility driven by gradients in limiting factors is a plausible mechanism to explain their vertical distribution. (v) Different ice algal bloom and net primary production (NPP) patterns were identified in the ice types studied, suggesting that ice algal maximal growth rates will increase, while sea ice vertically integrated NPP and biomass will decrease as a result of the predictable increase in the area covered by refrozen leads in the Arctic Ocean.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1372795
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-27818
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Vol. 122, Issue 7; ISSN 2169-8953
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 22 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (68)

Assessment of sea ice simulations in the CMIP5 models journal January 2015
Diatom activity within soft sediments: behavioural and physiological processes journal January 2003
Recent Arctic Ocean sea ice loss triggers novel fall phytoplankton blooms: PHYTOPLANKTON PHENOLOGY IN THE ARCTIC journal September 2014
Recent advances in understanding the Arctic climate system state and change from a sea ice perspective: a review journal January 2014
Modelling snow ice and superimposed ice on landfast sea ice in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard journal January 2015
Meteorological conditions in a thinner Arctic sea ice regime from winter to summer during the Norwegian Young Sea Ice expedition (N‐ICE2015) journal July 2017
Development and validation of a one-dimensional snow-ice algae model against observations in Resolute Passage, Canadian Arctic Archipelago journal January 2011
Simulating the mass balance and salinity of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. 1. Model description and validation journal January 2009
Selected physical, biological and biogeochemical implications of a rapidly changing Arctic Marginal Ice Zone journal December 2015
Future Arctic Ocean primary productivity from CMIP5 simulations: Uncertain outcome, but consistent mechanisms: FUTURE ARCTIC OCEAN PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY journal July 2013
Ecology of bottom ice algae: III. Comparative physiology journal August 1991
Positive trend in the mean speed and deformation rate of Arctic sea ice, 1979–2007 journal January 2009
Role of silicon as a limiting nutrient to Antarctic diatoms: evidence from kinetic studies in the Ross Sea ice-edge zone journal January 1992
A simulated Antarctic ast ice ecosystem journal April 1993
Thin ice and storms: Sea ice deformation from buoy arrays deployed during N-ICE2015: THIN ICE AND STORMS journal June 2017
Pan-Arctic simulation of coupled nutrient-sulfur cycling due to sea ice biology: Preliminary results: NUTRIENT-SULFUR CYCLING IN ARCTIC ICE journal February 2012
Sea ice phenology and timing of primary production pulses in the Arctic Ocean journal December 2012
Mixing rates and vertical heat fluxes north of Svalbard from Arctic winter to spring: N-ICE2015 ARCTIC TURBULENCE OBSERVATIONS journal June 2017
Turbulent heat and momentum fluxes in the upper ocean under Arctic sea ice: TURBULENT FLUXES UNDER ARCTIC SEA ICE journal February 2017
Energy budget of first-year Arctic sea ice in advanced stages of melt: ENERGY BUDGET MELTING FIRST-YEAR SEA ICE journal June 2013
The Granular Sea Ice Model in Spherical Coordinates and Its Application to a Global Climate Model journal December 2007
A high resolution bio-optical model of microalgal growth: Tests using sea-ice algal community time-series data journal May 1994
Determination of Arctic ice algal production with a new in situ incubation technique journal January 1999
Modeling the transport of passive tracers in sea ice journal January 2011
Modeling ice algal growth and decline in a seasonally ice-covered region of the Arctic (Resolute Passage, Canadian Archipelago) journal January 2005
Leads in Arctic pack ice enable early phytoplankton blooms below snow-covered sea ice journal January 2017
Two modes of sea-ice gravity drainage: A parameterization for large-scale modeling: GRAVITY DRAINAGE journal May 2013
What controls primary production in the Arctic Ocean? Results from an intercomparison of five general circulation models with biogeochemistry: PRIMARY PRODUCTION IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN journal January 2012
Sea Ice Biogeochemistry: A Guide for Modellers journal February 2014
A Novel and Low-Cost Sea Ice Mass Balance Buoy journal November 2013
Physical constrains and productivity in the future Arctic Ocean journal October 2015
Error quantification of a high-resolution coupled hydrodynamic-ecosystem coastal-ocean model: Part 2. Chlorophyll-a, nutrients and SPM journal December 2007
Distribution and trends in Arctic sea ice age through spring 2011: TRENDS IN ARCTIC SEA ICE AGE journal July 2011
THE Si:C:N RATIO OF MARINE DIATOMS: INTERSPECIFIC VARIABILITY AND THE EFFECT OF SOME ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES1 journal September 1985
Sea ice is a mushy layer journal January 2006
Continued increases in Arctic Ocean primary production journal August 2015
Snow contribution to first-year and second-year Arctic sea ice mass balance north of Svalbard: SNOW CONTRIBUTION TO ARCTIC SEA ICE MASS journal March 2017
Sea ice biological communities and nutrient dynamics in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean journal September 2002
Winter to summer oceanographic observations in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard: WINTER TO SUMMER ARCTIC OBSERVATIONS journal August 2017
Measurements of salinity and volume of brine excluded from growing sea ice journal January 1983
In situ measurements of the evolution of young sea ice journal January 2008
Diatom vertical migration within land-fast Arctic sea ice journal November 2014
Arctic spring awakening – Steering principles behind the phenology of vernal ice algal blooms journal December 2015
River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I — A discussion of principles journal April 1970
Role of sea ice in global biogeochemical cycles: emerging views and challenges journal November 2013
Sub-ice algal assemblages of the Barents Sea: Species composition, chemical composition, and growth rates journal October 1992
What sea-ice biogeochemical modellers need from observers journal February 2016
Controls of the landfast ice–ocean ecosystem offshore Barrow, Alaska journal January 2006
Macro-nutrient concentrations in Antarctic pack ice: Overall patterns and overlooked processes journal February 2017
Investigation of Arctic sea ice and ocean primary production for the period 1992–2007 using a 3-D global ice–ocean ecosystem model journal December 2012
A multilayer sigma-coordinate thermodynamic sea ice model: Validation against Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA)/Sea Ice Model Intercomparison Project Part 2 (SIMIP2) data journal January 2005
Summer landfast sea ice desalination at Point Barrow, Alaska: Modeling and observations journal January 2007
Uncertainty quantification and global sensitivity analysis of the Los Alamos sea ice model journal April 2016
Arctic Research on Thin Ice: Consequences of Arctic Sea Ice Loss journal January 2016
Linkages between salinity and brine channel distribution in young sea ice journal July 1999
Modeling the winter-spring transition of first-year ice in the western Weddell Sea journal September 2014
Windows in Arctic sea ice: Light transmission and ice algae in a refrozen lead: Light and Algae in a Refrozen Lead journal June 2017
Effects of an Arctic under‐ice bloom on solar radiant heating of the water column journal January 2017
Growth and lipid composition of high Arctic ice algae during the spring bloom at Resolute, Northwest Territories, Canada journal January 1993
A generalized model of pelagic biogeochemistry for the global ocean ecosystem. Part I: Theory journal January 2007
Arctic sea ice circulation and drift speed: Decadal trends and ocean currents: ARCTIC SEA ICE MOTION journal May 2013
Enhanced Arctic Sea Ice Drift Estimation Merging Radiometer and Scatterometer Data journal July 2012
Evaluating primary and secondary production in an Arctic Ocean void of summer sea ice: An experimental simulation approach journal July 2011
The seeding of ice algal blooms in Arctic pack ice: The multiyear ice seed repository hypothesis: Seeding of Ice Algae in Arctic Pack Ice journal July 2017
The importance of vertical resolution in sea ice algae production models journal May 2015
N-ICE2015 ice core physics: temperature, salinity and density dataset January 2017
N-ICE2015 surface meteorology dataset January 2015
N-ICE2015 Ocean turbulent fluxes from under-ice turbulence cluster (TIC) dataset January 2016

Cited By (5)

Sustainable management of economically valuable seaweed stocks at the limits of their range of distribution: Ascophyllum nodosum (Phaeophyceae) and its southernmost population in Europe journal December 2019
Drivers of Ice Algal Bloom Variability Between 1980 and 2015 in the Chukchi Sea journal October 2018
Field Observations and Physical‐Biogeochemical Modeling Suggest Low Silicon Affinity for Antarctic Fast Ice Diatoms journal November 2019
A red tide in the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean journal July 2019
Essential gaps and uncertainties in the understanding of the roles and functions of Arctic sea ice journal April 2019

Similar Records

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Earth Sciences
sea ice
biogeochemistry
Arctic Ocean