Phytoplankton in the surface desalted lens of the Kara Sea ...

• Main Authors: Sukhanova, Irina N, Flint, Mikhail V, Sergeeva, V M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2012
• Subjects: Archive of Ocean Data ARCOD; Kara Sea; Novaya Zemlya
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.818076; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.818076

Phytoplankton of a surface strongly desalinated water lens was investigated on the basis of materials collected during Cruise 57 of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in September 2007. The lens with salinity <18 psu had area of ca. 19000 sq. km and was located in the northwestern part of the Kara Sea near the eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya. It was a specific biotope that had been isolated from surrounding waters for more than three months. In the investigated area 66 algae species were identified. The maximal species diversity was found in the upper layers of the desalinated lens, where species number was 1.5 to 3 times higher than in other parts of the water column. Phytoplankton abundance in the upper layers of the lens was 1.5 to 4.5 times higher than in its lower part and generally higher than below the picnocline. Diatoms were the most abundant group in the upper layers of the lens, while flagellates dominated in the subpicnocline part of the water column. Maximal values of phytoplankton biomass were ...