Potential Impacts of Sea Ice Decline and River Discharge Shifts on Biological Productivity in the Chukchi & Beaufort Seas
Funding Agency: NASA Cryospheric Sciences Program, NASA ICESCAPE Mission
Collaborators: L. Cooper and J. Grebmeier (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
Funding Period: 2010-2015
Continued climate warming in the Arctic will likely have profound consequences for many systems throughout the region, including declines in sea ice cover and shifts in the quantity and quality of river discharge. It is widely expected that these changes in sea ice cover and river discharge will in turn have significant impacts on ecosystem productivity in arctic shelf seas, with globally significant consequences for carbon cycling and food web dynamics. We use a combination of field sampling and satellite remote sensing to investigate the potential impacts of sea ice decline and river discharge shifts on biological productivity in shelf seas of the Pacific Arctic Region. We focus our field efforts on the Chukchi/Beaufort Seas, which is a critical crossroads for the Arctic. Not only is this region a globally important marine mammal migration pathway, but the Pacific water transiting the system is one of the largest point sources of nutrients, heat and freshwater to the Arctic Ocean. Furthermore, although adjacent, the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas exhibit significantly different environmental characteristics, which will enable a better understanding of the interplay between sea ice decline, dissolved organic matter, non-algal particles, and light transmission in influencing biological productivity in the region.
Resulting Publications: *Ph.D. student author, **M.S./M.A. student author, ***B.A. student author
Cooper, L. W., K. E. Frey, C. L. Logvinova**, D. M. Biasatti & J. M. Grebmeier (2016), Variations in the proportions of melted sea ice and runoff in surface waters of the Chukchi Sea: A retrospective analysis, 1990–2012, and analysis of the implications of melted sea ice in an under-ice bloom. Deep-Sea Research II, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.04.014 (8 pp.). pdf copy
Strong, A. L., K. E. Lowry, Z. W. Brown, M. M. Mills, G. L. van Dijken, R. S. Pickart, L. W. Cooper, K. E. Frey, R. Benner, C. G. Fichot, J. T. Mathis, N. R. Bates & K. R. Arrigo (2016), Mass balance estimates of carbon export in different water masses of the Chukchi Sea shelf. Deep-Sea Research II, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.05.003 (12 pp.). pdf copy
Piper, M. M., C. R. Benitez-Nelson, K. E. Frey, M. M. Mills & S. Pal (2016), Dissolved and particulate phosphorus distributions and elemental stoichiometry throughout the Chukchi Sea. Deep-Sea Research II, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.05.009i (12 pp.). pdf copy
Logvinova, C. L.**, K. E. Frey & L. W. Cooper (2016), The role of sea ice melt in the distribution of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Deep-Sea Research II, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.04.017i (15 pp.). pdf copy
Logvinova, C. L.**, K. E. Frey, P. J. Mann, A. Stubbins, & R. G. M. Spencer (2015), Assessing the potential impacts of declining Arctic sea ice cover on the photochemical degradation of dissolved organic matter in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences 120, 2326–2344, doi:10.1002/2015JG003052 (19 pp.). pdf copy
Polashenski, C., D. K. Perovich, K. E. Frey, L. W. Cooper , C. L. Logvinova**, R. Dadic, B. Light, H. P. Kelly, L. D. Trusel* & M. Webster (2015), Physical and morphological properties of sea ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas during the 2010 and 2011 NASA ICESCAPE missions. Deep-Sea Research II 118, Part A, 7–17, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.04.006. pdf copy
Evans, W., J. T. Mathis, J. N. Cross, N. R. Bates, K. E. Frey, B. G. T. Else, T. N. Papkyriakou, M. D. DeGrandpre, F. Islam, W. -J. Cai, B. Chen, M. Yamamoto-Kawai, L. A. Miller, E. Carmack, W. J. Williams, and T. Takahashi (2015), Sea-air CO2 exchange in the western Arctic coastal ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 29, doi:10.1002/2015GB005153 (20 pp.). pdf copy
Frey, K. E., G. W. K. Moore, J. M. Grebmeier & L. W. Cooper (2015), Divergent Patterns of Recent Sea Ice Cover across the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas of the Pacific Arctic Region. Progress in Oceanography 136, 32–49, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2015.05.009. pdf copy
Frey, K. E., J. A. Maslanik, J. Clement Kinney & W. Maslowski (2014), Recent variability in sea ice cover, age, and thickness in the Pacific Arctic Region. In: Grebmeier, J. M. & W. Maslowski (eds.) The Pacific Arctic Region: ecosystem status and trends in a rapidly changing environment. Springer: Dordrecht, pp. 31–64. pdf copy
Bates, N. R., R. Garley, K. E. Frey, K. L. Shake & J. T. Mathis (2014), Sea-ice melt CO2-carbonate chemistry in the western Arctic Ocean: meltwater contributions to air-sea CO2 gas exchange, mixed-layer properties and rates of net community production under sea ice. Biogeosciences 11, 6769–6789, doi:10.5194/bg-11-6769-2014. pdf copy
Bhatt, U. S., D. A. Walker, J. E. Walsh, E. C. Carmack, K. E. Frey, W. N. Meier, S. E. Moore, F. W. Parmentier, E. Post, V. E. Romanovsky, W. R. Simpson (2014), Implications of Arctic Sea Ice Decline for the Earth System. Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources 39, doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-122012-094357 (33 pp.). pdf copy
Arrigo, K. R., D. K. Perovich, R. S. Pickart, Z. W. Brown, G. L. van Dijken, K. E. Lowry, M. M. Mills, M. A. Palmer, W. M. Balch, N. R. Bates, C. R. Benitez-Nelson, E. Brownlee, K. E. Frey, S. R. Laney, J. Mathis, A. Matsuoka, B. G. Mitchell, G. W. K. Moore, R. A. Reynolds, H. M. Sosik & J. H. Swift (2014), Phytoplankton blooms beneath sea ice in the Chukchi Sea. Deep Sea Research II, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.03.018 (16 pp.). pdf copy
Arrigo, K. R., D. K. Perovich, R. S. Pickart, Z. W. Brown, G. L. van Dijken, K. E. Lowry, M. M. Mills, M. A. Palmer, W. M. Balch, F. Bahr, N. R. Bates, C. Benitez-Nelson, B. Bowler, E. Brownlee, J. K. Ehn, K. E. Frey, R. Garley, S. R. Laney, L. Lubelczyk, J. Mathis, A. Matsuoka, B. G. Mitchell, G. W. K. Moore, E. Ortega-Retuerta, S. Pal, C. M. Polashenski, R. A. Reynolds, B. Scheiber, H. M. Sosik, M. Stephens & J. H. Swift (2012), Massive phytoplankton blooms under Arctic sea ice. Science 336, 1408, doi:10.1126/science.1215065. pdf copy
Frey, K. E., D. K. Perovich & B. Light (2011b), The spatial distribution of solar radiation under a melting Arctic sea ice cover. Geophysical Research Letters 38, L22501, doi:10.1029/2011GL049421 (6 pp.). pdf copy