Extended blooming phytoplankton discovered under thinning Arctic ice cap

Monday, June 11th 2012 - 19:23 UTC

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Scientists have made a biological discovery in Arctic Ocean waters as dramatic and unexpected as finding a rainforest in the middle of a desert. A NASA-sponsored expedition punched through three-foot thick sea ice to find waters richer in microscopic marine plants, essential to all sea life, than any other ocean region on Earth. Read full article

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GeoffWard2
Thin, marginal ice 'lensing' sufficient light through to underlying nutrient-rich waters.
70 miles width of marginal 'transparent' ice moving seasonally to and fro in relation to the landmasses.

If light is the limiting factor in this marginal band, and 'nutrient' is the limiting factor in open water, then we should not be surprised to see different (higher/lower) growth rates measured by chlorophyll production, etc, where different limiting factors have different incremental effects.

All in all, we might expect the greater exposure of the Arctic seas to light - caused by climate change 'opaque' sea ice melting - to create greater primary production. Not a surprising story but very interesting nonetheless.
Jun 12th, 2012 - 03:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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