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Primary and new production in the deep Canada Basin during summer 2002

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Abstract

The NOAA Ocean Exploration program provided the opportunity to measure the carbon and nitrogen productivity across the Canada Basin. This research examined the major environmental factors limiting the levels of primary production and possible future climate change on the ecosystems. The vertical distributions of the carbon and nitrogen uptakes of phytoplankton had similar patterns as their respective biomass concentrations which were low at the surface and highest in the chlorophyll-maximum layer. The annual carbon and new production rates of phytoplankton in the Canada Basin were about 5 and 1 g C m−2, respectively. Nutrients were determined to be a main limiting factor at the surface, whereas light may be a major factor limiting phytoplankton productivity in the chlorophyll-maximum layer for open waters. The bottom surface of the ice has a low specific uptake and productivity of phytoplankton, indicating that photosynthetic activity might be controlled by both light and nutrients.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the NOAA Ocean Exploration and Arctic Research Offices through CIFAR grant nos. G00000708 and G00000191. We thank the Canadian Coast Guard officers and crew of the Louis St. Laurent for their outstanding assistance during the cruise. We also thank Dr. Fiona McLaughlin for providing maps and nutrient and hydrographic data. We are especially indebted to Dr. Rolf Gradinger for helping in the support of our experiments on the ice floes during the cruise and providing review comments on this paper.

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  1. Institute of Marine Science, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 757220, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220, USA

    Sang H. Lee & Terry E. Whitledge

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  1. Sang H. Lee
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  2. Terry E. Whitledge
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Correspondence to Sang H. Lee.

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Lee, S.H., Whitledge, T.E. Primary and new production in the deep Canada Basin during summer 2002. Polar Biol 28, 190–197 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0676-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0676-3

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