Marine Science Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-22-2016
Keywords
phenology, synchronicity, phytoplankton, ice retreat, Antarctic polynya
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL067937
Abstract
Phytoplankton in Antarctic coastal polynyas has a temporally short yet spatially variant growth window constrained by ice cover and day length. Using 18‐year satellite measurements (1997–2015) of sea ice and chlorophyll concentrations, we assessed the synchronicity between the spring phytoplankton bloom and light availability, taking into account the ice cover and the incident solar irradiance, for 50 circum‐Antarctic coastal polynyas. The synchronicity was strong (i.e., earlier ice‐adjusted light onset leads to earlier bloom and vice versa) in most of the western Antarctic polynyas but weak in a majority of the eastern Antarctic polynyas. The west‐east asymmetry is related to sea ice production rate: the formation of many eastern Antarctic polynyas is associated with strong katabatic wind and high sea ice production rate, leading to stronger water column mixing that could damp phytoplankton blooms and weaken the synchronicity.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Geophysical Research Letters, v. 43, issue 5, p. 2086-2093
©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Scholar Commons Citation
Li, Yun; Ji, Rubao; Jin, Meibing; and Stroeve, Julienne, "Synchronicity between Ice Retreat and Phytoplankton Bloom in Circum‐Antarctic Polynyas" (2016). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 250.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/250
