Sea-ice derived meltwater stratification slows the biological carbon pump: results from continuous observations

Wilken-Jon von Appen (), Anya M. Waite, Melanie Bergmann, Christina Bienhold, Olaf Boebel, Astrid Bracher, Boris Cisewski, Jonas Hagemann, Mario Hoppema, Morten H. Iversen, Christian Konrad, Thomas Krumpen, Normen Lochthofen, Katja Metfies, Barbara Niehoff, Eva-Maria Nöthig, Autun Purser, Ian Salter, Matthias Schaber, Daniel Scholz, Thomas Soltwedel, Sinhue Torres-Valdes, Claudia Wekerle, Frank Wenzhöfer, Matthias Wietz and Antje Boetius
Additional contact information
Wilken-Jon von Appen: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Anya M. Waite: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Melanie Bergmann: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Christina Bienhold: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Olaf Boebel: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Astrid Bracher: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Boris Cisewski: Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries
Jonas Hagemann: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Mario Hoppema: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Morten H. Iversen: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Christian Konrad: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Thomas Krumpen: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Normen Lochthofen: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Katja Metfies: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Barbara Niehoff: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Eva-Maria Nöthig: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Autun Purser: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Ian Salter: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Matthias Schaber: Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries
Daniel Scholz: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Thomas Soltwedel: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Sinhue Torres-Valdes: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Claudia Wekerle: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Frank Wenzhöfer: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Matthias Wietz: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Antje Boetius: Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract The ocean moderates the world’s climate through absorption of heat and carbon, but how much carbon the ocean will continue to absorb remains unknown. The North Atlantic Ocean west (Baffin Bay/Labrador Sea) and east (Fram Strait/Greenland Sea) of Greenland features the most intense absorption of anthropogenic carbon globally; the biological carbon pump (BCP) contributes substantially. As Arctic sea-ice melts, the BCP changes, impacting global climate and other critical ocean attributes (e.g. biodiversity). Full understanding requires year-round observations across a range of ice conditions. Here we present such observations: autonomously collected Eulerian continuous 24-month time-series in Fram Strait. We show that, compared to ice-unaffected conditions, sea-ice derived meltwater stratification slows the BCP by 4 months, a shift from an export to a retention system, with measurable impacts on benthic communities. This has implications for ecosystem dynamics in the future warmer Arctic where the seasonal ice zone is expected to expand.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26943-z Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26943-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26943-z

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().