Journal
MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
Volume 412, Issue -, Pages 69-84Publisher
INTER-RESEARCH
DOI: 10.3354/meps08666
Keywords
Subsurface chlorophyll maximum; Deep chlorophyll maximum; Subsurface biomass maximum; Phytoplankton; Arctic; Nutrients; Nitrogen; Photosynthetic yield
Categories
Funding
- Canadian Network Centres of Excellence (NCE) ArcticNet
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- Fonds quebecois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Comprehensive investigations of the Canadian Arctic during late summer and early fall revealed the widespread occurrence of long-lived subsurface chlorophyll maxima (SCM) in seasonally ice-free waters. The vertical position of the SCM corresponded with the depth of the subsurface biomass maximum (SBM), at least in Baffin Bay, suggesting that SCM could be an important source of carbon for the food web. Most of these SCM were located well below the pycnocline in close association with the nitracline, implying that their vertical position was driven mainly by a shortage of inorganic nitrogen in the upper euphotic zone. The diversity of SCM configurations with respect to physical properties of the water column complicates the estimation of euphotic-zone chlorophyll and primary production from surface properties. High photosynthetic yields (F-v/F-m) showed the phytoplankton to be photosynthetically competent and well acclimated to conditions of irradiance and nutrient supply near the surface and at the SCM. A well-defined primary nitrite maximum was associated with the SCM in the southwest Canadian Arctic, but not in the northeast where nitrite concentrations were highest much below the euphotic zone. This contrast is consistent with differences in vertical stratification, the light-dark cycle and, possibly, the physiological state and taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton community at the SCM. This study demonstrates that the SCM, once regarded as anecdotal due to under-sampling, are a dominant feature of the Arctic Ocean that should be considered in remote sensing studies and biogeochemical models.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available