Observations of late-winter marine microbial activity in an ice-covered fjord, west Greenland

• Published in: Earth System Science Data
• Main Authors: D. Chandler, S. Mackie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2020
• Subjects: envir; geo; Arctic; Chandler; Greenland; polar night; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-897-2020; https://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/12/897/2020/essd-12-897-2020.pdf; https://doaj.org/article/e106eeeffda74a559bb394f943416f96

Direct observations of marine microbial metabolism are sparse in the Arctic, particularly under sea ice during winter. This paper presents the first observations of Arctic winter microbial activity under sea ice in a west Greenland fjord (Lillefjord, ∼ 70∘ N). Here, measured changes in dissolved oxygen (DO) content in light and dark in situ incubations were used to calculate net community productivity, respiration and photosynthesis rates. Data were collected at two fully ice covered sites during February 2013, shortly after the end of the polar night. Averaged over the full study period, dark incubations showed statistically significant decreases in DO of -0.36±0.24 (near shore) and -0.09±0.07 g O2 m−3 d−1 (fjord centre), indicating respiration rates that were 2–20 times greater than rates previously reported under sea ice in the Arctic. Meanwhile, a lack of significant evidence for photosynthesis suggests that the rate of photosynthesis – if it was occurring – was much lower than that of respiration. The data also show no significant evidence of a temporal trend in metabolism rates over the study period; however, ambient seawater DO increased significantly at the fjord centre (0.023±0.013 g O2 m−3 d−1), possibly attributable to processes not occurring in the incubations (such as sea ice algal photosynthesis). These data may improve our understanding of microbial activity in the fjord during winter, and its contribution to Arctic ecosystems under present and future conditions. The data are archived at PANGAEA (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.906332, Chandler and Mackie, 2019; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.912677, Chandler and Mackie, 2020).