Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard
Arctic amplification of global warming has accelerated mass loss of Arctic land ice over the past decades and led to increased freshwater discharge into glacier fjords and adjacent seas. Glacier freshwater discharge is typically associated with high sediment load which limits the euphotic depth but...
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2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:44602ef02d264be78535b20961a4194a 2023-05-15T14:56:57+02:00 Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard T. Dunse K. Dong K. S. Aas L. C. Stige 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022 https://doaj.org/article/44602ef02d264be78535b20961a4194a EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/271/2022/bg-19-271-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-271-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/44602ef02d264be78535b20961a4194a Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 271-294 (2022) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022 2022-12-31T15:15:13Z Arctic amplification of global warming has accelerated mass loss of Arctic land ice over the past decades and led to increased freshwater discharge into glacier fjords and adjacent seas. Glacier freshwater discharge is typically associated with high sediment load which limits the euphotic depth but may also aid to provide surface waters with essential nutrients, thus having counteracting effects on marine productivity. In situ observations from a few measured fjords across the Arctic indicate that glacier fjords dominated by marine-terminating glaciers are typically more productive than those with only land-terminating glaciers. Here we combine chlorophyll a from satellite ocean color, an indicator of phytoplankton biomass, with glacier meltwater runoff from climatic mass-balance modeling to establish a statistical model of summertime phytoplankton dynamics in Svalbard (mid-June to September). Statistical analysis reveals significant and positive spatiotemporal associations of chlorophyll a with glacier runoff for 7 out of 14 primary hydrological regions but only within 10 km distance from the shore. These seven regions consist predominantly of the major fjord systems of Svalbard. The adjacent land areas are characterized by a wide range of total glacier coverage (35.5 % to 81.2 % ) and fraction of marine-terminating glacier area (40.2 % to 87.4 % ). We find that an increase in specific glacier-runoff rate of 10 mm water equivalent per 8 d period raises summertime chlorophyll a concentrations by 5.2 % to 20.0 % , depending on the region. During the annual peak discharge we estimate that glacier runoff increases chlorophyll a by 13.1 % to 50.2 % compared to situations with no runoff. This suggests that glacier runoff is an important factor sustaining summertime phytoplankton production in Svalbard fjords, in line with findings from several fjords in Greenland. In contrast, for regions bordering open coasts, and beyond 10 km distance from the shore, we do not find significant associations of chlorophyll a with ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier glacier Global warming Greenland Phytoplankton Svalbard Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Greenland Biogeosciences 19 2 271 294 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 T. Dunse K. Dong K. S. Aas L. C. Stige Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Arctic amplification of global warming has accelerated mass loss of Arctic land ice over the past decades and led to increased freshwater discharge into glacier fjords and adjacent seas. Glacier freshwater discharge is typically associated with high sediment load which limits the euphotic depth but may also aid to provide surface waters with essential nutrients, thus having counteracting effects on marine productivity. In situ observations from a few measured fjords across the Arctic indicate that glacier fjords dominated by marine-terminating glaciers are typically more productive than those with only land-terminating glaciers. Here we combine chlorophyll a from satellite ocean color, an indicator of phytoplankton biomass, with glacier meltwater runoff from climatic mass-balance modeling to establish a statistical model of summertime phytoplankton dynamics in Svalbard (mid-June to September). Statistical analysis reveals significant and positive spatiotemporal associations of chlorophyll a with glacier runoff for 7 out of 14 primary hydrological regions but only within 10 km distance from the shore. These seven regions consist predominantly of the major fjord systems of Svalbard. The adjacent land areas are characterized by a wide range of total glacier coverage (35.5 % to 81.2 % ) and fraction of marine-terminating glacier area (40.2 % to 87.4 % ). We find that an increase in specific glacier-runoff rate of 10 mm water equivalent per 8 d period raises summertime chlorophyll a concentrations by 5.2 % to 20.0 % , depending on the region. During the annual peak discharge we estimate that glacier runoff increases chlorophyll a by 13.1 % to 50.2 % compared to situations with no runoff. This suggests that glacier runoff is an important factor sustaining summertime phytoplankton production in Svalbard fjords, in line with findings from several fjords in Greenland. In contrast, for regions bordering open coasts, and beyond 10 km distance from the shore, we do not find significant associations of chlorophyll a with ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
T. Dunse K. Dong K. S. Aas L. C. Stige |
author_facet |
T. Dunse K. Dong K. S. Aas L. C. Stige |
author_sort |
T. Dunse |
title |
Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard |
title_short |
Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard |
title_full |
Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in Svalbard |
title_sort |
regional-scale phytoplankton dynamics and their association with glacier meltwater runoff in svalbard |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022 https://doaj.org/article/44602ef02d264be78535b20961a4194a |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Greenland |
genre |
Arctic glacier glacier Global warming Greenland Phytoplankton Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier glacier Global warming Greenland Phytoplankton Svalbard |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 271-294 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/271/2022/bg-19-271-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-271-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/44602ef02d264be78535b20961a4194a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
271 |
op_container_end_page |
294 |
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1766329001542942720 |