Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice
Areas covered in compact sea ice were often assumed to prohibit upper-ocean photosynthesis. Yet, under-ice phytoplankton blooms (UIBs) have increasingly been observed in the Arctic, driven by anthropogenic changes to the optical properties of Arctic sea ice. Here, we show evidence that the Southern...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c05c418181f74f5cafdc6cf501a17992 2023-05-15T13:44:00+02:00 Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice Christopher Horvat Kelsey Bisson Sarah Seabrook Antonia Cristi Lisa C. Matthes 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.942799 https://doaj.org/article/c05c418181f74f5cafdc6cf501a17992 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.942799/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.942799 https://doaj.org/article/c05c418181f74f5cafdc6cf501a17992 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) sea ice phytoplankton blooms Southern Ocean ICESat-2 CMIP6 under-ice blooms Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.942799 2022-12-30T20:18:13Z Areas covered in compact sea ice were often assumed to prohibit upper-ocean photosynthesis. Yet, under-ice phytoplankton blooms (UIBs) have increasingly been observed in the Arctic, driven by anthropogenic changes to the optical properties of Arctic sea ice. Here, we show evidence that the Southern Ocean may also support widespread UIBs. We compile 77 time series of water column samples from biogeochemical Argo floats that profiled under compact (80%–100% concentration) sea ice in austral spring–summer since 2014. We find that that nearly all (88%) such measurements recorded increasing phytoplankton biomass before the seasonal retreat of sea ice. A significant fraction (26%) met a observationally determined threshold for an under-ice bloom, with an average maximum chlorophyll-a measurement of 1.13 mg/m3. We perform a supporting analysis of joint light, sea ice, and ocean conditions from ICESat-2 laser altimetry and climate model contributions to CMIP6, finding that from 3 to 5 million square kilometers of the compact-ice-covered Southern Ocean has sufficient conditions to support light-limited UIBs. Comparisons between the frequency of bloom observations and modeled bloom predictions invite future work into mechanisms sustaining or limiting under-ice phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Hemisphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Phytoplankton Sea ice Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Antarctic Southern Ocean Austral Frontiers in Marine Science 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
sea ice phytoplankton blooms Southern Ocean ICESat-2 CMIP6 under-ice blooms Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
sea ice phytoplankton blooms Southern Ocean ICESat-2 CMIP6 under-ice blooms Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Christopher Horvat Kelsey Bisson Sarah Seabrook Antonia Cristi Lisa C. Matthes Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice |
topic_facet |
sea ice phytoplankton blooms Southern Ocean ICESat-2 CMIP6 under-ice blooms Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Areas covered in compact sea ice were often assumed to prohibit upper-ocean photosynthesis. Yet, under-ice phytoplankton blooms (UIBs) have increasingly been observed in the Arctic, driven by anthropogenic changes to the optical properties of Arctic sea ice. Here, we show evidence that the Southern Ocean may also support widespread UIBs. We compile 77 time series of water column samples from biogeochemical Argo floats that profiled under compact (80%–100% concentration) sea ice in austral spring–summer since 2014. We find that that nearly all (88%) such measurements recorded increasing phytoplankton biomass before the seasonal retreat of sea ice. A significant fraction (26%) met a observationally determined threshold for an under-ice bloom, with an average maximum chlorophyll-a measurement of 1.13 mg/m3. We perform a supporting analysis of joint light, sea ice, and ocean conditions from ICESat-2 laser altimetry and climate model contributions to CMIP6, finding that from 3 to 5 million square kilometers of the compact-ice-covered Southern Ocean has sufficient conditions to support light-limited UIBs. Comparisons between the frequency of bloom observations and modeled bloom predictions invite future work into mechanisms sustaining or limiting under-ice phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Hemisphere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christopher Horvat Kelsey Bisson Sarah Seabrook Antonia Cristi Lisa C. Matthes |
author_facet |
Christopher Horvat Kelsey Bisson Sarah Seabrook Antonia Cristi Lisa C. Matthes |
author_sort |
Christopher Horvat |
title |
Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice |
title_short |
Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice |
title_full |
Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice |
title_fullStr |
Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence of phytoplankton blooms under Antarctic sea ice |
title_sort |
evidence of phytoplankton blooms under antarctic sea ice |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.942799 https://doaj.org/article/c05c418181f74f5cafdc6cf501a17992 |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic Southern Ocean Austral |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic Southern Ocean Austral |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Phytoplankton Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Phytoplankton Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.942799/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.942799 https://doaj.org/article/c05c418181f74f5cafdc6cf501a17992 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.942799 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766195750314704896 |