Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters

International audience Antarctic pack ice serves as habitat for microalgae which contribute to Southern Ocean primary production and serve as important food source for pelagic herbivores. Ice algal biomass is highly patchy and remains severely undersampled by classical methods such as spatially rest...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Meiners, K. M., Arndt, S., Bestley, S., Krumpen, T., Ricker, R., Milnes, M., Newbery, K., Freier, U., Jarman, S., King, R., Proud, R., Kawaguchi, S., Meyer, B.
Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2017
Subjects:
sea ice properties
snow
freeboard
chlorophyll a
ice algae
biomass
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
Weddell
Weddell Sea
Antarc*
Sea ice
Online Access:https://insu.hal.science/insu-03682743
https://insu.hal.science/insu-03682743/document
https://insu.hal.science/insu-03682743/file/Geophysical%20Research%20Letters%20-%202017%20-%20Meiners%20-%20Antarctic%20pack%20ice%20algal%20distribution%20Floe%25u2010scale%20spatial%20variability%20and.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074346
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Summary:International audience Antarctic pack ice serves as habitat for microalgae which contribute to Southern Ocean primary production and serve as important food source for pelagic herbivores. Ice algal biomass is highly patchy and remains severely undersampled by classical methods such as spatially restricted ice coring surveys. Here we provide an unprecedented view of ice algal biomass distribution, mapped (as chlorophyll a) in a 100 m by 100 m area of a Weddell Sea pack ice floe, using under-ice irradiance measurements taken with an instrumented remotely operated vehicle. We identified significant correlations (p < 0.001) between algal biomass and concomitant in situ surface measurements of snow depth, ice thickness, and estimated sea ice freeboard levels using a statistical model. The model's explanatory power (r 2 = 0.30) indicates that these parameters alone may provide a first basis for spatial prediction of ice algal biomass, but parameterization of additional determinants is needed to inform more robust upscaling efforts.

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