Contrasting Ice Algae and Snow‐Dependent Irradiance Relationships Between First‐Year and Multiyear Sea Ice

During the 2018 Multidisciplinary Arctic Program‐Last Ice in the Lincoln Sea, we sampled 45 multiyear ice (MYI) and 34 first‐year ice (FYI) cores, combined with snow depth, ice thickness, and transmittance surveys from adjacent level FYI and undeformed MYI. FYI sites show a decoupling between bottom...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Lange, Benjamin A., Haas, Christian, Charette, Joannie, Katlein, Christian, Campbell, Karley, Duerksen, Steve, Coupel, Pierre, Anhaus, Philipp, Jutila, Arttu, Tremblay, Pascal O. G., Carlyle, Cody G., Michel, Christine
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Arctic
ice algae
Lincoln Sea
Sea ice
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/51910/
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082873
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.980357dd-28f3-4f84-90ef-e896b2968d16
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Summary:During the 2018 Multidisciplinary Arctic Program‐Last Ice in the Lincoln Sea, we sampled 45 multiyear ice (MYI) and 34 first‐year ice (FYI) cores, combined with snow depth, ice thickness, and transmittance surveys from adjacent level FYI and undeformed MYI. FYI sites show a decoupling between bottom‐ice chlorophyll a (chl a) and snow depth; however, MYI showed a significant correlation between ice‐algal chl a biomass and snow depth. Topographic control of the snow cover resulted in greater spatiotemporal variability of the snow over the level FYI, and consequently transmittance, compared to MYI with an undulating surface. The coupled patterns of snow depth, transmittance, and chl a indicate that MYI provides an environment with more stable light conditions for ice algal growth. The importance of sea ice surface topography for ice algal habitat underpins the potential ecological changes associated with projected increased ice dynamics and deformation.

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