Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks
Sea ice, including icebergs, has a complex relationship with the carbon held within animals (blue carbon) in the polar regions. Sea-ice losses around West Antarctica's continental shelf generate longer phytoplankton blooms but also make it a hotspot for coastal iceberg disturbance. This matters...
Published in: | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 2024-10-06T13:43:20+00:00 Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks Barnes, David K. A. Fleming, Andrew Sands, Chester J. Quartino, Maria Liliana Deregibus, Dolores European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences volume 376, issue 2122, page 20170176 ISSN 1364-503X 1471-2962 journal-article 2018 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 2024-09-23T04:22:22Z Sea ice, including icebergs, has a complex relationship with the carbon held within animals (blue carbon) in the polar regions. Sea-ice losses around West Antarctica's continental shelf generate longer phytoplankton blooms but also make it a hotspot for coastal iceberg disturbance. This matters because in polar regions ice scour limits blue carbon storage ecosystem services, which work as a powerful negative feedback on climate change (less sea ice increases phytoplankton blooms, benthic growth, seabed carbon and sequestration). This resets benthic biota succession (maintaining regional biodiversity) and also fertilizes the ocean with nutrients, generating phytoplankton blooms, which cascade carbon capture into seabed storage and burial by benthos. Small icebergs scour coastal shallows, whereas giant icebergs ground deeper, offshore. Significant benthic communities establish where ice shelves have disintegrated (giant icebergs calving), and rapidly grow to accumulate blue carbon storage. When 5000 km 2 giant icebergs calve, we estimate that they generate approximately 10 6 tonnes of immobilized zoobenthic carbon per year (t C yr −1 ). However, their collisions with the seabed crush and recycle vast benthic communities, costing an estimated 4 × 10 4 t C yr −1 . We calculate that giant iceberg formation (ice shelf disintegration) has a net potential of approximately 10 6 t C yr −1 sequestration benefits as well as more widely known negative impacts. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The marine system of the West Antarctic Peninsula: status and strategy for progress in a region of rapid change’. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* Sea ice The Royal Society Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 376 2122 20170176 |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Sea ice, including icebergs, has a complex relationship with the carbon held within animals (blue carbon) in the polar regions. Sea-ice losses around West Antarctica's continental shelf generate longer phytoplankton blooms but also make it a hotspot for coastal iceberg disturbance. This matters because in polar regions ice scour limits blue carbon storage ecosystem services, which work as a powerful negative feedback on climate change (less sea ice increases phytoplankton blooms, benthic growth, seabed carbon and sequestration). This resets benthic biota succession (maintaining regional biodiversity) and also fertilizes the ocean with nutrients, generating phytoplankton blooms, which cascade carbon capture into seabed storage and burial by benthos. Small icebergs scour coastal shallows, whereas giant icebergs ground deeper, offshore. Significant benthic communities establish where ice shelves have disintegrated (giant icebergs calving), and rapidly grow to accumulate blue carbon storage. When 5000 km 2 giant icebergs calve, we estimate that they generate approximately 10 6 tonnes of immobilized zoobenthic carbon per year (t C yr −1 ). However, their collisions with the seabed crush and recycle vast benthic communities, costing an estimated 4 × 10 4 t C yr −1 . We calculate that giant iceberg formation (ice shelf disintegration) has a net potential of approximately 10 6 t C yr −1 sequestration benefits as well as more widely known negative impacts. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The marine system of the West Antarctic Peninsula: status and strategy for progress in a region of rapid change’. |
author2 |
European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barnes, David K. A. Fleming, Andrew Sands, Chester J. Quartino, Maria Liliana Deregibus, Dolores |
spellingShingle |
Barnes, David K. A. Fleming, Andrew Sands, Chester J. Quartino, Maria Liliana Deregibus, Dolores Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks |
author_facet |
Barnes, David K. A. Fleming, Andrew Sands, Chester J. Quartino, Maria Liliana Deregibus, Dolores |
author_sort |
Barnes, David K. A. |
title |
Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks |
title_short |
Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks |
title_full |
Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks |
title_fullStr |
Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks |
title_sort |
icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and antarctic climate feedbacks |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Iceberg* Sea ice |
op_source |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences volume 376, issue 2122, page 20170176 ISSN 1364-503X 1471-2962 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176 |
container_title |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
container_volume |
376 |
container_issue |
2122 |
container_start_page |
20170176 |
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1812180220735651840 |