Observation‐Based Estimate of Net Community Production in Antarctic Sea Ice
Abstract Antarctic sea ice is one of the largest biomes on Earth providing a critical habitat for ice algae. Measurements of primary production in Antarctic sea ice remain scarce and an observation‐based estimate of primary production has not been revisited in over 30 years. We fill this knowledge gap by presenting a newly compiled circumpolar data set of particulate and dissolved organic carbon from 362 ice cores, sampled between 1989 and 2019, to estimate sea‐ice net community production using a carbon biomass accumulation approach. Our estimate of 26.8–32.9 Tg C yr −1 accounts for at least 15%–18% of the total primary production in the Antarctic sea‐ice zone, less than a previous observation‐based estimate (63–70 Tg C yr −1 ) and consistent with recent modeled estimates. The results underpin the ecological significance of sea‐ice algae as an early season resource for pelagic food webs.
Authors
- Agneta Fransson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1403-2110)
- L. Norman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9720-4664)
- Julie Janssens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1789-9940)
- Christina Schallenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3073-7500)
- Martin Vancoppenolle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7573-8582)
- Sian F. Henley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1221-1983)
- Kevin R. Arrigo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7364-876X)
- Jean‐Louis Tison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9758-3454)
- Sophie Bestley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9342-669X)
- Daïki Nomura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3047-4023)
- Pier van der Merwe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7428-8030)
- Klaus M Meiners (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7118-9136)
- David N. Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8832-5907)
- Karley Campbell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5008-0705)
- Matthew Corkill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5847-3738)
- David R. Munro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1373-7402)
- Alexander D. Fraser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1924-0015)
- S. Papadimitriou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8540-1169)
- François Fripiat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2591-6301)
- Bruno Delille (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0502-8101)
- Sébastien Moreau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9446-812X)
- Stefano Cozzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0116-742X)
- Florian Deman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6647-7360)
- Delphine Lannuzel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6154-1837)
- Laura A. Dalman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3931-6753)
Institutions
- CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere (AU)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
- Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE)
- Australian Antarctic Division (AU)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- University of Liège (BE)
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- National Oceanography Centre (GB)
- Hokkaido University (JP)
- Hakodate University (JP)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT)
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO)
- Norwegian Polar Institute (NO)
- Stanford University (US)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl113717
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.50
Funders
- Sight Research UK
- Natural Environment Research Council