Contribution of under-ice primary production to an ice-edge upwelling phytoplankton bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Mundy, C. J., Gosselin, Michel, Ehn, Jens, Gratton, Yves, Rossnagel, Andrea, Barber, David G., Martin, Johannie, Tremblay, Jean-Éric, Palmer, Molly, Arrigo, Kevin R., Darnis, Gérald, Fortier, Louis, Else, Brent, Papakyriakou, Tim
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche (IMEV), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography (9310; 9315); Oceanography: General: Upwelling and convergences (4964); Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Phytoplankton; Cryosphere: Sea ice (4540); Earth Science; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Antarc*; Antarctic; Arctic bay; Arctic; Beaufort Sea; Phytoplankton; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04110655; https://hal.science/hal-04110655/document; https://hal.science/hal-04110655/file/Geophysical%20Research%20Letters%20-%202009%20-%20Mundy%20-%20Contribution%20of%20under%E2%80%90ice%20primary%20production%20to%20an%20ice%E2%80%90edge%20upwelling.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL038837

International audience The Canadian Beaufort Sea has been categorized as an oligotrophic system with the potential for enhanced production due to a nutrient-rich intermediate layer of Pacific-origin waters. Using under-ice hydrographic data collected near the ice-edge of a shallow Arctic bay, we documented an ice-edge upwelling event that brought nutrient-rich waters to the surface during June 2008. The event resulted in a 3-week long phytoplankton bloom that produced an estimated 31 g C m -2 of new production. This value was approximately twice that of previous estimates for annual production in the region, demonstrating the importance of ice-edge upwelling to the local marine ecosystem. Under-ice primary production estimates of up to 0.31 g C m -2 d -1 showed that this production was not negligible, contributing up to 22% of the daily averaged production of the ice-edge bloom. It is suggested that under-ice blooms are a widespread yet under-documented phenomenon in polar regions, which could increase in importance with the Arctic's thinning ice cover and subsequent increase in transmitted irradiance to the under-ice environment.