Recent observations suggest that substantial phytoplankton blooms occur under sea ice on Arctic continental shelves during June and July. This is opposed to the traditional view that no significant biomass is produced in sea‐ice covered waters. However, no observational estimates are available on the Arctic‐wide primary production beneath sea ice. Here, using a fully coupled Arctic system model, we estimate that 63%/41% of the total primary production in the central Arctic occurs in waters covered by sea ice that is ≥50%/≥85% concentration. The total primary production there is increasing at a rate of 5.2% per decade during 1980–2018. Increased light transmission, due to the removal of sea ice, more extensive melt ponds, and thinner sea ice, is implicated as the main cause of increasing trends in primary production.
Clement Kinney, Jaclyn, et al. "Hidden Production: On the Importance of Pelagic Phytoplankton Blooms Beneath Arctic Sea Ice." Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, vol. 125, no. 9, Aug. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016211
@article{osti_1650697,
author = {Clement Kinney, Jaclyn and Maslowski, Wieslaw and Osinski, Robert and Jin, Meibing and Frants, Marina and Jeffery, Nicole and Lee, Younjoo J.},
title = {Hidden Production: On the Importance of Pelagic Phytoplankton Blooms Beneath Arctic Sea Ice},
annote = {Abstract Recent observations suggest that substantial phytoplankton blooms occur under sea ice on Arctic continental shelves during June and July. This is opposed to the traditional view that no significant biomass is produced in sea‐ice covered waters. However, no observational estimates are available on the Arctic‐wide primary production beneath sea ice. Here, using a fully coupled Arctic system model, we estimate that 63%/41% of the total primary production in the central Arctic occurs in waters covered by sea ice that is ≥50%/≥85% concentration. The total primary production there is increasing at a rate of 5.2% per decade during 1980–2018. Increased light transmission, due to the removal of sea ice, more extensive melt ponds, and thinner sea ice, is implicated as the main cause of increasing trends in primary production.},
doi = {10.1029/2020JC016211},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1650697},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans},
issn = {ISSN 2169-9275},
number = {9},
volume = {125},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Geophysical Union (AGU)},
year = {2020},
month = {08}}
Roberts, Andrew F.; Hunke, Elizabeth C.; Allard, Richard
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 376, Issue 2129https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0344