Data from: Massive phytoplankton blooms under Arctic sea ice

Phytoplankton blooms over Arctic Ocean continental shelves are thought to be restricted to waters free of sea ice. Here, we document a massive phytoplankton bloom beneath fully consolidated pack ice far from the ice edge in the Chukchi Sea, where light transmission has increased in recent decades because of thinning ice cover and proliferation of melt ponds. The bloom was characterized by high diatom biomass and rates of growth and primary production. Evidence suggests that under-ice phytoplankton blooms may be more widespread over nutrient-rich Arctic continental shelves and that satellite-based estimates of annual primary production in these waters may be underestimated by up to 10-fold.

学界此前普遍认为，北冰洋大陆架海域的浮游植物水华（phytoplankton bloom）仅能发生在无海冰覆盖的水域。本研究记录了楚科奇海远离冰缘的完全固结浮冰群下方出现的大规模浮游植物水华；近数十年来，由于海冰覆盖变薄与融池增多，该海域的光透射能力已显著提升。此次水华以高硅藻生物量、高生长速率与高初级生产速率为特征。现有证据表明，在营养物质富集的北极大陆架海域，冰下浮游植物水华的分布可能更为广泛，且基于卫星的该海域年度初级生产量估算值可能被低估高达10倍。