"Contribution of under-ice primary production to an ice-edge upwelling phytoplankton bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea," by C. J. Mundy et al., GRL 26 (2009); doi:10.1029/2009GL038837

Geophysical Research Letters 36 (2009) L17601; doi:10.1029/2009GL038837

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

C. J. Mundy, Michel Gosselin (Institut des Sciences de la Mer, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Québec, Canada), Jens Ehn (Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris VI, CNRS, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France), Yves Gratton (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique—Eau, Terre et Environnement, Université du Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada), Andrea Rossnagel, David G. Barber (Centre for Earth Observation Science, Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), Johannie Martin, Jean-Éric Tremblay (Québec-Océan, Département de biologie, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada), Molly Palmer, Kevin R. Arrigo (Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA), Gérald Darnis, Louis Fortier (Québec-Océan, Département de biologie, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada), Brent Else, Tim Papakyriakou (Centre for Earth Observation Science, Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)

Abstract

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.

Received 22 April 2009; accepted 31 July 2009; published 1 September 2009.

Citation: Mundy, C. J., et al. (2009). Contribution of under-ice primary production to an ice-edge upwelling phytoplankton bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L17601, doi:10.1029/2009GL038837.

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