Diatoms are generally the dominant contributors to the Arctic Ocean spring bloom, which is a key event in regional food webs in terms of capacity for secondary production and organic matter export. Dissolved silicic acid is an obligate nutrient for diatoms and has been declining in the European Arctic since the early 1990s. The lack of regional silicon cycling information precludes understanding the ...

To reach the goal of large-scale seaweed cultivation in Norway and the rest of Europe, new knowledge about the commercially important kelp species <i>Saccharina latissima</i> is needed. Efforts to maximise biomass by outplanting the seaweed in different seasons can affect seaweed quality. Here, we investigate the effects of outplanting time (February, April, and May) when cultivating <i>S. latissima</i> ...

During two consecutive cruises to the Eastern Central Arctic in late summer 2012, we observed floating algal aggregates in the melt-water layer below and between melting ice floes of first-year pack ice. The macroscopic (1-15 cm in diameter) aggregates had a mucous consistency and were dominated by typical ice-associated pennate diatoms embedded within the mucous matrix. Aggregates maintained ...

Arctic summer sea ice extent is decreasing and thinning, forming melt ponds that cover more than 50% of the sea ice area during the peak of the melting season. Despite of this, ice algal communities in melt ponds are understudied and so are their contribution to the Arctic Ocean primary production and carbon turnover. While melt ponds have been considered as low productive, recent studies suggest ...

The marine CO₂ system in Tempelfjorden (Svalbard) was investigated between August 2015 and December 2017 using total alkalinity, pH, temperature, salinity, oxygen isotopic ratio, and nutrient data. Primary production resulted in the largest changes that were observed in the partial pressure of CO₂ (<i>p</i>CO₂, 140 μatm) and the saturation state of aragonite ...

Arctic coastal ecosystems are rapidly changing due to climate warming. This makes modeling their productivity crucially important to better understand future changes. System primary production in these systems is highest during the pronounced spring bloom, typically dominated by diatoms. Eventually the spring blooms terminate due to silicon or nitrogen limitation. Bacteria can play an important role ...

Time series of the marine CO₂ system and related parameters at the IsA Station, by Adventfjorden, Svalbard, were investigated between March 2015 and November 2017. The physical and biogeochemical processes that govern changes in total alkalinity (TA), total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and the saturation state of the calcium carbonate mineral aragonite (Ω_Ar) were assessed ...

The marine ecosystem in Kongsfjorden (79 N), a glacial fjord in Svalbard, is to a large extent well known with regard to hydrography, mesozooplankton and higher trophic levels. Research on primary production and lower trophic levels is still scare and especially investigations from winter and spring periods. The spring bloom dynamics in Kongsfjordenwere investigated in 2002. The development in ...

Seasonal and interannual variability in surface water partial pressure of CO₂ (<i>p</i>CO2) and air‐sea CO₂ fluxes from a West Spitsbergen fjord (IsA Station, Adventfjorden) are presented, and the associated driving forces are evaluated. Marine CO₂ system data together with temperature, salinity, and nutrients, were collected at the IsA Station between March 2015 and ...

As a contribution to understanding the ecological framework of protistan seasonal succession patterns, we present the weekly-to-monthly (January–October) light microscopy-based study of nano- and microplanktonic protist communities of Adventfjorden waters in 2013. In general, protist dynamics corresponded to the classic paradigm for the Arctic ice-free waters with extremely low abundance and diversity ...