Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Ice algal assemblages and vertical export of organic matter from sea ice in the Barents Sea and Nansen Basin (Arctic Ocean)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Algal communities and export of organic matter from sea ice were studied in the offshore marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the northern Barents Sea and Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard by means of ice cores and short-term deployed sediment traps. The observations cover a total of ten stations within the drifting pack ice, visited over a period of 3 years during the period of ice melt in May and July. Maximum flux of particulate organic carbon and chlorophyll a from the ice at 1 m depth (1,537 mg C m−2 per day and 20 mg Chl a m−2 per day) exceeded the flux at 30 m by a factor of 2 during spring, a pattern that was reversed later in the season. Although diatoms dominated the ice-associated algal biomass, flagellates at times revealed similarly high biomass and typically dominated the exported algal carbon. Importance of flagellates to the vertical flux increased as melting progressed, whereas diatoms made the highest contribution during the early melting stage. High export of ice-derived organic matter and phytoplankton took place simultaneously in the offshore MIZ, likely as a consequence of ice drift dynamics and the mosaic structure of ice-covered and open water characteristic of this region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ambrose WG Jr, Clough LM, Tilney PR, Beer L (2001) Role of echinoderms in benthic remineralization in the Chukchi Sea. Mar Biol (Berl) 139:937–949. doi:10.1007/s002270100652

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose WG Jr, von Quillfeldt C, Clough LM, Tilney PVR, Tucker T (2005) The sub-ice algal community in the Chukchi Sea: large- and small-scale patterns of abundance based on images from a remotely operated vehicle. Polar Biol 28:784–795. doi:10.1007/s00300-005-0002-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andreassen I, Nöthig E-M, Wassmann P (1996) Vertical particle flux on the shelf off northern Spitsbergen, Norway. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 137:215–228. doi:10.3354/meps137215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrigo K (2003) Primary production in sea ice. In: Thomas DN, Dickmann GS (eds) Sea ice. An introduction to its physics, chemistry, biology and geology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 143–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauerfeind E, Garrity C, Krumbholz M, Ramseier RO, Voss M (1997) Seasonal variability of sediment trap collections in the Northeast Water Polynya. 2. Biochemical and microscopic composition of sedimenting matter. J Mar Syst 10:371–389. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(96)00069-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergmann MA, Welch HE, Butler-Walker JE, Siferd TD (1991) Ice algal photosynthesis at Resolute and Saqvaqjuac in the Canadian Arctic. J Mar Syst 2:43–52. doi:10.1016/0924-7963(91)90012-J

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhaskar PV, Grossart HP, Bhosle NB, Simon M (2005) Production of macroaggregates from dissolved exopolymeric substances (EPS) of bacterial and diatom origin. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 53:255–264. doi:10.1016/j.femsec.2004.12.013

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Booth BC, Horner RA (1997) Microalgae on the Arctic Ocean Section, 1994: species abundance and biomass. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 44:1607–1622. doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(97)00057-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engelsen O, Hegseth EN, Hop H, Hansen E, Falk-Petersen S (2002) Spatial variability of chlorophyll-a in the Marginal Ice Zone of the Barents Sea, with relations to sea ice and oceanographic conditions. J Mar Syst 35:79–97. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(02)00077-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer G (1991) Stable carbon isotope ratios of plankton carbon and sinking organic-matter from the Atlantic sector of the Southern-Ocean. Mar Chem 35:581–596

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Forest A, Sampei M, Hattori H, Makabe R, Sasaki H, Fukuchi M, Wassmann P, Fortier L (2007) Particulate organic carbon fluxes on the slope of the Mackenzie Shelf (Beaufort Sea): Physical and biological forcing of shelf-basin exchanges. J Mar Syst 68:39–54. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2006.10.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortier M, Fortier L, Michel C, Legendre L (2002) Climatic and biological forcing of the vertical flux of biogenic particles under seasonal Arctic sea ice. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 225:1–16. doi:10.3354/meps225001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerland S, Renner AHH, Godtliebsen F, Divine D, Løyning TB (2008) Decrease of sea ice thickness at Hopen, Barents Sea, during 1966–2007. Geophys Res Lett 35:L06501. doi:10.1029/2007GL032716

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson JAE, Trull T, Nichols PD, Summons RE, McMinn A (1999) Sedimentation of 13C-rich organic matter from Antarctic sea-ice algae: a potential indicator of past sea-ice extent. Geology 27:331–334. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0331:SOCROM>2.3.CO;2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gosselin M, Levasseur M, Wheeler PA, Horner RA, Booth BC (1997) New measurements of phytoplankton and ice algal production in the Arctic Ocean. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 44:1623–1644. doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(97)00054-4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gradinger R (1999) Vertical fine structure of the biomass and composition of algal communities in Arctic pack ice. Mar Biol (Berl) 133:745–754. doi:10.1007/s002270050516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gradinger R (2008) Sea ice algae: major contributors to primary production and algal biomass in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas during May/June 2002. Deep-Sea Res II. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.10.016

  • Gradinger R, Ikävalko J (1998) Organism incorporation into newly forming Arctic sea ice in the Greenland Sea. J Plankton Res 20:871–886. doi:10.1093/plankt/20.5.871

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gradinger R, Friedrich C, Spindler M (1999) Abundance, biomass and composition of the sea ice biota of the Greenland Sea pack ice. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 46:1457–1472. doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(99)00030-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen AS, Nielsen TG, Levinsen H, Madsen SD, Thingstad TF, Hansen BW (2003) Impact of changing ice cover on pelagic productivity and food web structure in Disko Bay, West Greenland: a dynamic model approach. Deep Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Pap 50:171–187. doi:10.1016/S0967-0637(02)00133-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegseth EN (1992) Sub-ice algal assemblages of the Barents Sea: Species composition, chemical composition, and growth-rates. Polar Biol 12:485–496. doi:10.1007/BF00238187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegseth EN (1998) Primary production of the northern Barents Sea. Polar Res 17:113–123. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1998.tb00266.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson KA, Ambrose WG Jr, Renaud PE (1995) Sources of primary production, benthic-pelagic coupling, and trophic relationships within the Northeast Water Polynya: Insights from δ13C and δ15 N analysis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 128:1–10. doi:10.3354/meps128001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodal H, Kristiansen S (2008) The importance of small-celled phytoplankton in spring blooms at the marginal ice zone in the northern Barents Sea. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 55:2176–2185. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.05.012

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holm-Hansen O, Riemann B (1978) Chlorophyll a determination: improvements in methodology. Oikos 30:438–447. doi:10.2307/3543338

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hop H, Pavlova O (2008) Distribution and biomass transport of ice amphipods in drifting sea ice around Svalbard. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 55:2292–2307. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.05.023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johannessen OM, Bengtsson L, Miles MW, Kuzmina SI, Semenov VA, Alekseev GV, Nagurnyi AP, Zakharov VF, Bobylev LP, Pettersson LH, Hasselmann K, Cattle AP (2004) Arctic climate change: observed and modelled temperature and sea-ice variability. Tellus Ser A 56:328–341. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00060.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juul-Pedersen T, Michel C, Gosselin M, Seuthe L (2008) Seasonal changes in the sinking export of particulate material under first-year sea ice on the Mackenzie Shelf (western Canadian Arctic). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 353:13–25. doi:10.3354/meps07165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kivimäe C (2007) Carbon and oxygen fluxes in the Barents and Norwegian Seas: production, air-sea exchange and budget calculations. PhD Thesis, University of Bergen

  • Legendre L, Ackley SF, Dieckmann GS, Gulliksen B, Horner R, Hoshiai T, Melnikov IA, Reeburgh WS, Spindler M, Sullivan CW (1992) Ecology of sea ice biota. 2. Global significance. Polar Biol 12:429–444

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeng H (1991) Features of the physical oceanographic conditions of the Barents Sea. Polar Res 10:5–18. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1991.tb00630.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lønne OJ (1988) A diver-operated electric suction sampler for sympagic (=under-ice) invertebrates. Polar Res 6:135–136. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1988.tb00589.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maslanik JA, Fowler C, Stroeve J, Drobot S, Zwally J, Yi D, Emry W (2007) A younger, thinner Arctic ice cover: increased potential for rapid, extensive ice loss. Geophys Res Lett 34:L24501. doi:10.1029/2007GL032043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meiners K, Gradinger R, Fehling J, Civitarese G, Spindler M (2003) Vertical distribution of exopolymer particles in sea ice of the Fram Strait (Arctic) during autumn. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 248:1–13. doi:10.3354/meps248001

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Menden-Deuer S, Lessard EJ (2000) Carbon to volume relationships for dinoflagellates, diatoms, and other protist plankton. Limnol Oceanogr 45:569–579

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Michel C, Legendre L, Ingram RG, Gosselin M, Levasseur M (1996) Carbon budget of sea-ice algae in spring: Evidence of a significant transfer to zooplankton grazers. J Geophys Res C 101:18345–18360. doi:10.1029/96JC00045

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Michel C, Nielsen TG, Nozais C, Gosselin M (2002) Significance of sedimentation and grazing by ice micro- and meiofauna for carbon cycling in annual sea ice (northern Baffin Bay). Aquat Microb Ecol 30:57–68. doi:10.3354/ame030057

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michels J, Dieckmann GS, Thomas DN, Schnack-Schiel SB, Krell A, Assmy P, Kennedy H, Papadimitriou S, Cisewski B (2008) Short-term biogenic particle flux under late spring sea ice in the western Weddell Sea. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 55:1024–1039. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.12.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy CJ, Barber DG, Michel C (2005) Variability of snow and ice thermal, physical and optical properties pertinent to sea ice algae biomass during spring. J Mar Syst 58:107–120. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2005.07.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien MC, Macdonald RW, Melling H, Iseki K (2006) Particle fluxes and geochemistry on the Canadian Beaufort Shelf: Implications for sediment transport and deposition. Cont Shelf Res 26:41–81. doi:10.1016/j.csr.2005.09.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olli K, Wexels Riser C, Wassmann P, Ratkova T, Arashkevich E, Pasternak A (2001) Vertical flux of biogenic matter during a Lagrangian study off the NW Spanish continental margin. Prog Oceanogr 51:443–466. doi:10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00079-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlov V, Pavlova O, Korsnes R (2004) Sea ice fluxes and drift trajectories from potential pollution sources, computed with a statistical sea ice model of the Arctic Ocean. J Mar Syst 48:133–157. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2003.11.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratkova TN, Wassmann P (2002) Seasonal variation and spatial distribution of phyto- and protozooplankton in the central Barents Sea. J Mar Syst 38:47–75. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(02)00169-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratkova TN, Wassmann P (2005) Sea ice algae in the White and Barents seas: composition and origin. Polar Res 24:95–110. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2005.tb00143.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reigstad M, Wassmann P, Wexels Riser C, Øygarden S, Rey F (2002) Variations in hydrography, nutrients and chlorophyll a in the marginal ice-zone and the central Barents Sea. J Mar Syst 38:9–29. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(02)00167-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reigstad M, Wexels Riser C, Wassmann P, Ratkova T (2008) Vertical export of particulate organic carbon: attenuation, composition and loss rates in the northern Barents Sea. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 55:2308–2319. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.05.007

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Renaud PE, Riedel A, Michel C, Morata N, Gosselin M, Juul-Pedersen T, Chiuchiolo A (2007) Seasonal variation in benthic community oxygen demand: a response to an ice algal bloom in the Beaufort Sea, Canadian Arctic? J Mar Syst 67:1–12. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2006.07.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson TL, Jackson GA (2007) Small phytoplankton and carbon export from the surface ocean. Science 315:838–840. doi:10.1126/science.1133471

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Riebesell U, Reigstad M, Wassmann P, Noji T, Passow U (1995) On the trophic fate of Phaeocystis pouchetii (Hariot): VI. Significance of Phaeocystis-derived mucus for vertical flux. Neth J Sea Res 33:193–203. doi:10.1016/0077-7579(95)90006-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riedel A, Michel C, Gosselin M (2006) Seasonal study of sea-ice exopolymeric substances on the Mackenzie shelf: implications for transport of sea-ice bacteria and algae. Aquat Microb Ecol 45:195–206. doi:10.3354/ame045195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Różańska M, Poulin M, Gosselin G (2008) Protist entrapment in newly formed sea ice in the Coastal Arctic Ocean. J Mar Syst 74:887–901. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.11.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rysgaard S, Kuhl M, Glud RN, Hansen JW (2001) Biomass, production and horizontal patchiness of sea ice algae in a high-Arctic fjord (Young Sound, NE Greenland). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 223:15–26. doi:10.3354/meps223015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sazhin AF, Ratkova TN, Kosobokova KN (2004) Inhabitants of the White Sea coastal ice during the early spring period. Oceanology (Mosc) 44:82–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundfjord A, Fer I, Kasajima Y, Svendsen H (2007) Observations of turbulent mixing and hydrography in the marginal ice zone of the Barents Sea. J Geophys Res C:112. doi:10.1029/2006JC003524

    Google Scholar 

  • Syvertsen EE (1991) Ice algae in the Barents Sea: types of assemblages, origin, fate and role in the ice-edge phytoplankton bloom. Polar Res 10:277–287. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1991.tb00653.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamelander T, Heiskanen AS (2004) Effects of spring bloom phytoplankton dynamics and hydrography on the composition of settling material in the coastal northern Baltic Sea. J Mar Syst 52:217–234. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2004.02.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamelander T, Reigstad M, Hop H, Carroll MC, Wassmann P (2008) Pelagic and sympagic contribution of organic matter to zooplankton and vertical export in the Barents Sea marginal ice zone. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 55:2330–2339. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.05.019

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay C, Runge JA, Legendre L (1989) Grazing and sedimentation of ice algae during and immediately after a bloom at the ice-water interface. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 56:291–300. doi:10.3354/meps056291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vinje T, Kvambekk AS (1991) Barents Sea drift ice characteristics. Polar Res 10:59–68. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1991.tb00635.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Quillfeldt CH (1997) Distribution of diatoms in the Northeast Water Polynya, Greenland. J Mar Syst 10:211–240. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(96)00056-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Quillfeldt CH (2004) The diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus and its potential as an indicator species for cold water rather than for sea ice. Vie Milieu Paris 54:137–143

    Google Scholar 

  • von Quillfeldt CH, Ambrose WG Jr, Clough LM (2003) High number of diatom species in first-year ice from the Chukchi Sea. Polar Biol 26:806–818. doi:10.1007/s00300-003-0549-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wassmann P (1998) Retention versus export food chains: processes controlling sinking loss from marine pelagic systems. Hydrobiologia 363:29–57. doi:10.1023/A:1003113403096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wassmann P, Reigstad M, Haug T, Rudels B, Carroll ML, Hop H, Gabrielsen GW, Falk-Petersen S, Denisenko SG, Arashkevich E, Slagstad D, Pavlova O (2006) Food webs and carbon flux in the Barents Sea. Prog Oceanogr 71:232–287. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2006.10.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner I (2000) Faecal pellet production by Arctic under-ice amphipods - transfer of organic matter through the ice/water interface. Hydrobiologia 426:89–96. doi:10.1023/A:1003984327103

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wexels Riser C, Reigstad M, Wassmann P, Arashkevich E, Falk-Petersen S (2007) Export or retention? Copepod abundance, faecal pellet production and vertical flux in the marginal ice zone through snap shots from the Barents Sea. Polar Biol 30:719–730. doi:10.1007/s00300-006-0229-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (CABANERA project 155936/700). Support was also provided by the Roald Amundsen Centre for Arctic Research (University of Tromsø, projects 200306694-41 and 200406518 to TT) and the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (07-05-00294 to TR). We thank the captain and crew of the RV Jan Mayen for assistance during field operations, and EN Hegseth for making participation in the spring 2004-cruise possible. A Sundfjord is thanked for comments on physical oceanography. CJ Mundy, E Bauerfeind, and one anonymous reviewer are kindly acknowledged for comments that helped to improve this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aquatic BioSciences, University of Tromsø, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Tobias Tamelander & Marit Reigstad

  2. Norwegian Polar Institute, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Tobias Tamelander & Haakon Hop

  3. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky Ave. 36, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    Tatjana Ratkova

Authors
  1. Tobias Tamelander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marit Reigstad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Haakon Hop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tatjana Ratkova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tobias Tamelander.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tamelander, T., Reigstad, M., Hop, H. et al. Ice algal assemblages and vertical export of organic matter from sea ice in the Barents Sea and Nansen Basin (Arctic Ocean). Polar Biol 32, 1261–1273 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0622-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0622-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation