Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters

©2017. Commonwealth of Australia. Antarctic pack ice serves as habitat for microalgae which contribute to Southern Ocean primary production and serve as important food source for pelagic herbivores. Ice algal biomass is highly patchy and remains severely undersampled by classical methods such as spa...

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Main Authors: Meiners, K., Arndt, S., Bestley, S., Krumpen, T., Ricker, R., Milnes, M., Newbery, K., Freier, U., Jarman, Simon, King, R., Proud, R., Kawaguchi, S., Meyer, B.
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Geophysical Union 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71513
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author Meiners, K.
Arndt, S.
Bestley, S.
Krumpen, T.
Ricker, R.
Milnes, M.
Newbery, K.
Freier, U.
Jarman, Simon
King, R.
Proud, R.
Kawaguchi, S.
Meyer, B.
author_facet Meiners, K.
Arndt, S.
Bestley, S.
Krumpen, T.
Ricker, R.
Milnes, M.
Newbery, K.
Freier, U.
Jarman, Simon
King, R.
Proud, R.
Kawaguchi, S.
Meyer, B.
author_sort Meiners, K.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description ©2017. Commonwealth of Australia. Antarctic pack ice serves as habitat for microalgae which contribute to Southern Ocean primary production and serve as important food source for pelagic herbivores. Ice algal biomass is highly patchy and remains severely undersampled by classical methods such as spatially restricted ice coring surveys. Here we provide an unprecedented view of ice algal biomass distribution, mapped (as chlorophyll a) in a 100 m by 100 m area of a Weddell Sea pack ice floe, using under-ice irradiance measurements taken with an instrumented remotely operated vehicle. We identified significant correlations (p < 0.001) between algal biomass and concomitant in situ surface measurements of snow depth, ice thickness, and estimated sea ice freeboard levels using a statistical model. The model's explanatory power (r2 = 0.30) indicates that these parameters alone may provide a first basis for spatial prediction of ice algal biomass, but parameterization of additional determinants is needed to inform more robust upscaling efforts.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2017
publisher American Geophysical Union
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-715132019-03-20T07:55:11Z Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters Meiners, K. Arndt, S. Bestley, S. Krumpen, T. Ricker, R. Milnes, M. Newbery, K. Freier, U. Jarman, Simon King, R. Proud, R. Kawaguchi, S. Meyer, B. ©2017. Commonwealth of Australia. Antarctic pack ice serves as habitat for microalgae which contribute to Southern Ocean primary production and serve as important food source for pelagic herbivores. Ice algal biomass is highly patchy and remains severely undersampled by classical methods such as spatially restricted ice coring surveys. Here we provide an unprecedented view of ice algal biomass distribution, mapped (as chlorophyll a) in a 100 m by 100 m area of a Weddell Sea pack ice floe, using under-ice irradiance measurements taken with an instrumented remotely operated vehicle. We identified significant correlations (p < 0.001) between algal biomass and concomitant in situ surface measurements of snow depth, ice thickness, and estimated sea ice freeboard levels using a statistical model. The model's explanatory power (r2 = 0.30) indicates that these parameters alone may provide a first basis for spatial prediction of ice algal biomass, but parameterization of additional determinants is needed to inform more robust upscaling efforts. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71513 10.1002/2017GL074346 American Geophysical Union fulltext
spellingShingle Meiners, K.
Arndt, S.
Bestley, S.
Krumpen, T.
Ricker, R.
Milnes, M.
Newbery, K.
Freier, U.
Jarman, Simon
King, R.
Proud, R.
Kawaguchi, S.
Meyer, B.
Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters
title Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters
title_full Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters
title_fullStr Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters
title_full_unstemmed Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters
title_short Antarctic pack ice algal distribution: Floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters
title_sort antarctic pack ice algal distribution: floe-scale spatial variability and predictability from physical parameters
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71513