Dynamics of the Spatial Chlorophyll-A Distribution at the Polar Front in the Marginal Ice Zone of the Barents Sea during Spring
Murmansk Marine Biological Institute (MMBI), 183010 Murmansk, Russia
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Academic Editors: Domenico D’Alelio, Luigi Caputi and Maria Moustaka-Gouni
Water 2022, 14(1), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010101
Received: 29 October 2021
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Revised: 27 December 2021
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Accepted: 3 January 2022
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Published: 4 January 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Phytoplankton-Zooplankton Link under Anthropogenic Pressures)
Effects of the sea-ice edge and the Polar Frontal Zone on the distribution of chlorophyll-a levels in the pelagic were investigated during multi-year observations in insufficiently studied and rarely navigable regions of the Barents Sea. Samples were collected at 52 sampling stations combined into 11 oceanographic transects over a Barents Sea water area north of the latitude 75° N during spring 2016, 2018, and 2019. The species composition, abundance and biomass of the phytoplankton community, chlorophyll-a concentrations, hydrological and hydrochemical parameters were analyzed. The annual phytoplankton evolution phase, defined as an early-spring one, was determined throughout the transects. The species composition of the phytoplankton community and low chlorophyll-a levels suggested no phytoplankton blooming in April 2016 and 2019. Not yet started sea-ice melting prevented sympagic (sea-ice-associated) algae from being released into the seawater. In May 2018, ice melting began in the eastern Barents Sea and elevated chlorophyll-a levels were recorded near the ice edge. Chlorophyll-a concentrations substantially differed in waters of different genesis, especially in areas influenced by the Polar Front. The Polar Front separated the more productive Arctic waters with a chlorophyll-a concentration of 1–5 mg/m3 on average from the Atlantic waters where the chlorophyll-a content was an order of magnitude lower.
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Keywords:
chlorophyll-a; Polar Front; frontal zone; ice edge; Barents Sea
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MDPI and ACS Style
Makarevich, P.R.; Vodopianova, V.V.; Bulavina, A.S. Dynamics of the Spatial Chlorophyll-A Distribution at the Polar Front in the Marginal Ice Zone of the Barents Sea during Spring. Water 2022, 14, 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010101
AMA Style
Makarevich PR, Vodopianova VV, Bulavina AS. Dynamics of the Spatial Chlorophyll-A Distribution at the Polar Front in the Marginal Ice Zone of the Barents Sea during Spring. Water. 2022; 14(1):101. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010101
Chicago/Turabian StyleMakarevich, Pavel R., Veronika V. Vodopianova, and Aleksandra S. Bulavina. 2022. "Dynamics of the Spatial Chlorophyll-A Distribution at the Polar Front in the Marginal Ice Zone of the Barents Sea during Spring" Water 14, no. 1: 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010101
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