Synoptic evaluation of carbon cycling in the Beaufort Sea during summer: contrasting river inputs, ecosystem metabolism and air–sea CO2 fluxes

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Forest, A, Coupel, P, Else, B, Nahavandian, S, Lansard, B, Raimbault, Patrick, Papakyriakou, T, Gratton, Y, Fortier, L, Tremblay, J.-É, Babin, M
• Other Authors: Université Laval Québec (ULaval), University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Centre Eau Terre Environnement Québec (INRS - ETE), Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique Québec (INRS), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Océan et Interfaces (OCEANIS), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie (MIO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Toulon (UTLN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Observatoire océanologique de Villefranche-sur-mer (OOVM), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment; [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Mackenzie River; Wind River; ArcticNet; Beaufort Sea; Mackenzie river; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01307716; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01307716/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01307716/file/bg-11-2827-2014.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2827-2014

International audience The accelerated decline in Arctic sea ice and an ongoing trend toward more energetic atmospheric and oceanic forcings are modifying carbon cycling in the Arctic Ocean. A critical issue is to understand how net community production (NCP; the balance between gross primary production and community respiration) responds to changes and modulates air–sea CO2 fluxes. Using data collected as part of the ArcticNet–Malina 2009 expedition in the southeastern Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean), we synthesize information on sea ice, wind, river, water column properties, metabolism of the planktonic food web, organic carbon fluxes and pools, as well as air–sea CO2 exchange, with the aim of documenting the ecosystem response to environmental changes. Data were analyzed to develop a non-steady-state carbon budget and an assessment of NCP against air–sea CO2 fluxes. During the field campaign, the mean wind field was a mild upwelling-favorable wind (∼ 5 km h−1) from the NE. A decaying ice cover (< 80 % concentration) was observed beyond the shelf, the latter being fully exposed to the atmosphere. We detected some areas where the surface mixed layer was net autotrophic owing to high rates of primary production (PP), but the ecosystem was overall net heterotrophic. The region acted nonetheless as a sink for atmospheric CO2, with an uptake rate of −2.0 ± 3.3 mmol C m −2 d −1 (mean ± standard deviation associated with spatial variability). We attribute this discrepancy to (1) elevated PP rates (> 600 mg C m −2 d −1) over the shelf prior to our survey, (2) freshwater dilution by river runoff and ice melt, and (3) the presence of cold surface waters offshore. Only the Mackenzie River delta and localized shelf areas directly affected by upwelling were identified as substantial sources of CO2 to the atmosphere (> 10 mmol C m−2 d−1). Daily PP rates were generally < 100 mg C m−2 d−1 and cumu-lated to a total PP of ∼ 437.6 × 10 3 t C for the region over a 35-day period. This amount was about twice the organic ...