| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| August 8th, 2023 | 3:05pm-4:05pm | Clark 201 |
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. TheNorth Atlantic Ocean west (Baffin Bay/Labrador Sea) and east (FramStrait/Greenland Sea) of Greenland features the most intense absorption ofanthropogenic carbon globally; the biological carbon pump (BCP) contributessubstantially. As Arctic sea-ice melts, the BCP changes, impacting globalclimate and other critical ocean attributes (e.g. biodiversity). Fullunderstanding requires year-round or horizontally highly resolved observationsacross a range of ice conditions. Here we present such observations:autonomously collected Eulerian continuous 24-month time-series in Fram Straitand a section from the open water to the pack ice over the Yermak Plateau. We showthat, compared to ice-unaffected conditions, sea-ice derived meltwaterstratification slows the BCP by 4 months, a shift from an export to a retentionsystem, with measurable impacts on benthic communities. The strongstratification qualitatively changes where in the water column phytoplanktongrows. This has implications for ecosystem dynamics in the future warmer Arcticwhere the seasonal ice zone is expected to expand.