Summary

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:Dalman L.A. Meiners K.M. Thomas D.N. Deman F. Bestley S. Moreau S. Arrigo K.R. Campbell K. Corkill M. Cozzi S. Delille B. Fransson A. Fraser A.D. Henley S.F. Janssens J. Lannuzel D. Munro D.R. Nomura D. Norman L. Papadimitriou S. Schallenberg C. Tison J-L. Vancoppenolle M. van der Merwe P. Fripiat F. Published in: 2025 Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature Program area: Antarctic Climate
Read publication at agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Read publication at dx.doi.org
Dalman L.A., Meiners K.M., Thomas D.N., Deman F., Bestley S., Moreau S., Arrigo K.R., Campbell K., Corkill M., Cozzi S., Delille B., Fransson A., Fraser A.D., Henley S.F., Janssens J., Lannuzel D., Munro D.R., Nomura D., Norman L., Papadimitriou S., Schallenberg C., Tison J-L. , Vancoppenolle M., van der Merwe P., Fripiat F. (2025) Observation Based Estimate of Net Community Production in Antarctic Sea Ice, Geophysical Research Letters 52(7). e2024GL113717; https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL113717;

Related projects

Coupled physical-biological processes in the Antarctic sea-ice zone during the melt season MEINERS, Dr Klaus Australia (or home country), Other Antarctic Location (Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands)
on