Ctenophora in the Arctic: the abundance, distribution and predatory impact of the cydippid ctenophore Mertensia ovum (Fabricius) in the Barents Sea

The Ctenophora Mertensia ovum and Beroe cucumis , collected using both conventional sampling gear and scuba divers, were studied in the Barents Sea east of Bjørnøya and North Norway in spring 1987 and summer 1988. Among the gelatinous zooplankton, Mertensia ovum was the most consistently abundant copepod predator.
Feeding experiments were conducted to evaluate the predation rate of M. ovum in various trophic regimes. This ctenophore can take prey varying in size from small copepods to amphipods and krill, but gut-content analyses from field-collected specimens as well as experimental results showed that the main food source for adults was large-sized copepods (e.g. Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis, C. hyperboreus, Metridia longa ). The robust tentacle arrray of M. ovum makes this species effective as a predator on large prey. The high potential predation rate of this ctenophore relative to its estimated metabolic cost of only 1.7% of the body energy content d⁻¹ suggests that M. ovum may be able to maintain a positive energy balance even in conditions of low prey abundance. It is suggested that a single exploitation of a zooplankton patch may provide energy for survival for a very long time.
The potential impact of M. ovum on Barents Sea copepod populations is estimated on the basis of the minimal observed average daily ration in experiments and from field data on gut contents. Using abundances of copepods for the area, and the actual predator biomass collected, it was estimated that an average of 0.7% of the copepod fauna per day could fall prey to this predator.     

Impact of grazing from capelin (Mallotus villosus) on zooplankton: a case study in the northern Barents Sea in August 1985

The distribution of capelin was mapped in the area east of Hopen. Zooplankton was sampled with Juday net and 1 m² MOCNESS sampler, and analysed with respect to hydrography and capelin abundance. The capelin "front" coincided more or less with the physical Polar Front, and this complicated the interpretation of the results. Strong indications for a grazing impact by capelin on zooplankton were nevertheless obtained. The zooplankton biomass was significantly lower in the area with high abundance of capelin than in the area with no capelin. This effect was due to a lower biomass of relatively large zooplankton (> 1 mm size fraction) and seen most clearly in data obtained with the MOCNESS. The biomass of zooplankton in the upper 100 m was very low where capelin was present, suggesting rapid depletion of the major prey items. The biomass (m ⁻²) of capelin in the capelin front area was about three times higher than the biomass of zooplankton in areas without capelin. The capelin front would therefore have the potential to graze down the available prey in 3-4 days. Light seems to be an important factor for the predation impact by capelin, resulting in strong interactions between capelin predation and zooplankton vertical distribution.     

North Atlantic Water in the Barents Sea Opening, 1997 to 1999

North Atlantic Water (NAW) is an important source of heat and salt to the Nordic seas and the Arctic Ocean. To measure the transport and variability of one branch of NAW entering the Arctic, a transect across the entrance to the Barents Sea was occupied 13 times between July 1997 and November 1999, and hydrography and currents were measured. There is large variability between the cruises, but the mean currents and the hydrography show that the main inflow takes place in Bjørnøyrenna, with a transport of 1.6 Sv of NAW into the Barents Sea. Combining the flow field with measurements of temperature and salinity, this results in mean heat and salt transports by NAW into the Barents Sea of 3.9×10¹³ W and 5.7×10⁷ kg s⁻¹, respectively. The NAW core increased in temperature and salinity by 0.7 °C yr⁻¹ and 0.04 yr⁻¹, respectively, over the observation period. Variations in the transports of heat and salt are, however, dominated by the flow field, which did not exhibit a significant change.     

Nitrogen uptake rates in phytoplankton and ice algae in the Barents Sea

Uptake rates of NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ and dissolved organic nitrogen (urea) were measured in phytoplankton and in ice algae in the Barents Sea using a ¹⁵N-technique. NO₃⁻ was the most important nitrogen source for the ice algae (f-ratio = 0.92). The in situ irradiances in the subsurface chlorophyll maximum and in the ice algal communities were low. The in situ NO₃⁻ uptake rate in the ice algal communities was light-limited The in situ NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁻ uptake rates in the subsurface chlorophyll maximum were at times light-limited. It is hypothesised that NH₄⁺ may accumulate in low light in the bottom of the euphotic zone and inhibit the in situ NO₃⁻ uptake rate.     

A diurnal resonance in the ocean tide and in the Earth's load response due to the resonant free 'core nutation'

Summary. The luni-solar forced nutations and body tide are believed to be resonant at frequencies near (1 + 1/460) cycle sidereal day⁻¹ as seen from the rotating Earth. This resonance is due to the Earth's rotating, elliptical fluid core. We show here that tides in the open ocean and the Earth's response to those tides must also be resonant at (1 + 1/460) cycle day⁻¹. We examine these resonant oceanic effects on the Earth's nutational motion and on the body tide. Effects on the forced nutations might be as large as 0.002 arcsec at 18.6 yr. The effects on the observed resonance in the body tide are more important. For tidal gravity, for example, the difference between K ₁ and 0 ¹ which is usually used to determine the resonance, can be perturbed by 30 per cent or more due to the oceanic resonance effects.     

Micromonas pusilla (Prasinophyceae) as part of pico-and nanoplankton communities of the Barents Sea

Micromonas pusilla (Butcher) Manton & Parke appears to be a prominent member of the Barents Sea picoplankton community as revealed by the serial dilution culture method. Cell numbers frequently exceeded 10⁷ cells 1⁻¹, though they usually varied between 10³and 10⁶ cells l⁻¹. A number of other identified and unidentified taxa were recorded and quantified. Distribution relative to the marginal ice zone is reported.     

Dynamics of plankton growth in the Barents Sea: model studies

1-D and 3-D models of plankton production in the Barents Sea are described and a few simulations presented. The 1-D model has two compartments for phytoplankton (diatoms and P. pouchelii) , three for limiting nutrients (nitrate, ammonia and silicic acid), and one compartment called "sinking phytoplankton". This model is coupled to a submodel of the important herbivores in the area and calculates the vertical distribution in a water column. Simulations with the 3-D model indicate a total annual primary production of 90-120g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in Atlantic Water and 20-50g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in Arctic Water, depending on the persistence of the ice cover during the summer.
The 3-D model takes current velocities, vertical mixing, ice cover, and temperature from a 3-D hydrodynamical model. Input data are atmospheric wind, solar radiation, and sensible as well as latent heat flux for the year 1983. The model produces a dynamic picture of the spatial distribution of phytoplankton throughout the spring and summer. Integrated primary production from March to July indicates that the most productive area is Spitsbcrgenbanken and the western entrance to the Barents Sea. i.e. on the northern slope of Tromsøflaket.     

Phytoplankton dynamics in the Barents Sea estimated from chlorophyll budget models

Pigment budgets use chlorophyll a and phaeopigment standing stock in combination with their photo-oxidation and sedimentation rates in the euphotic zone to estimate phytoplankton growth and grazing by micro- and macrozooplankton. Using this approach, average phytoplankton growth in the euphotic zone of the Barents Sea was estimated at 0.17 and 0.14 d⁻¹ during spring of 1987 and 0.018 and 0.036 d⁻¹ during late- and postbloom conditions in summer of 1988. Spring growth was 65% lower than the estimates from radiocarbon incorporation, supporting a 33% pigment loss during grazing. Macrozooplankton grazing and cell sinking were the main loss terms for phytoplankton during spring while microzooplankton grazing was dominant in summer.
In contrast to tropical and temperate waters, Arctic waters are characterized by a high phaeopigment: chlorophyll a ratio in the seston. Photooxidation rates of phaeopigments at in situ temperatures (0 ± 1°C) are lower than in temperate waters and vary by a factor of 2 for individual forms (0.009 to 0.018 m⁻²mol⁻¹). The phaeopigment fraction in both the suspended and sedimenting material was composed of seven main compounds that were isolated using high-performance liquid chromatography and characterized by spectral analysis. The most abundant phaeopigment in the sediment traps, a phaeo-phorbide-like molecule of intermediate polarity (phaeophorbide a₃), peaked in abundance in the water column below the 1% isolume for PAR (60-80 m) and showed the highest rate of photooxidation. This phaeopigment was least abundant in the seston when phytoplankton was dominated by prymnesiophytcs but increased its abundance in plankton dominated by diatoms. This distribution suggests that larger grazers feeding on diatoms are the main producers of this phaeopigment.     

The effect of polar wander on the tides of a hemispherical ocean

Summary. A numerical model is constructed of the tides in a hemispherical ocean driven by the forces corresponding to the Y₂^–2 equilibrium tide. The model is used to study how tidal dissipation is affected by changes in the position of the ocean relative to the Earth's rotational axis and to test a hypothesis concerning the Gerstenkorn event.
As the position of the Earth's axis is varied with respect to the ocean, the model shows changes in the dissipation rate due to the changing position and importance of individual resonances of the ocean. However, a cooperative effect is also observed which results, for an ocean of depth 4400 m, in broad frequency bands near 10 rad day⁻¹ and-6 rad day⁻¹ in which the dissipation rate remains high.
The cooperative effect is found to arise from the existence, in an unbounded ocean, of resonances at these frequencies which match the tidal forces. When ocean boundaries are introduced, the new resonances near these frequencies contain a large component of the underlying resonance and as a result are themselves a good match to the driving forces.
For the real ocean, these findings imply that changes in the position of the pole, and also possibly changes in the shape of the ocean, will on average have little effect on the energy dissipated by the tides. However in the past changes in the mean depth and area of the ocean or the increased rotation rate of the Earth may have resulted in a smaller dissipation rate.     

Distribution and life history of krill from the Barents Sea

Krill from the Barents Sea were studied on six cruises from 1985 to 1989. Thysanoessa inermis and T. longicaudata were the dominant species, while T. raschii and Meganyctiphanes norvegica were rarer in the studied areas. The two dominant species T. inermis and T. longicaudata are mainly found in the Atlantic. Water and they do not to a large extent penetrate into Arctic water masses in the northern Barents Sea. M. norvegica is a more strict boreal species that does not occur as extensively in the Barents Sea as do the Thysanoessa species. The mean population abundance ranged from 1 to 61 individuals m⁻² for T. inermis and from 2 to 52 ind. M⁻² for T. longicaudata . The mean dry weight biomass of these two species ranged from 14 to 616 and from 19 to 105 mg⁻². Length frequency distributions indicate a life span of just over two years for T. inermis and T. longicaudata . Growth took place from about April to autumn with no apparent growth during winter. Maturation and spawning seem to occur after two years for T. inermis and one year for T. longicaudata . Main spawning occurred from May to June coinciding with the spring phytoplankton bloom. Captive spawners of T. inermis (total length 17-22 mm) shed 30-110 eggs per female in a single batch.     

Primary production of the northern Barents Sea

The majority of the arctic waters are only seasonally ice covered; the northern Barents Sea, where freezing starts at 80 to 81°N in September, is one such area. In March, the ice cover reaches its greatest extension (74-75°N). Melting is particularly rapid in June and July, and by August the Barents Sea may be ice free. The pelagic productive season is rather short, 3 to 3.5 months in the northern part of the Barents Sea (north of the Polar Front, 75°N), and is able to sustain an open water production during only half of this time when a substantial part of the area is free of ice. Ice algal production starts in March and terminates during the rapid melting season in June and July, thus equalling the pelagic production season in duration.
This paper presents the first in situ measurements of both pelagic and ice-related production in the northern Barents Sea: pelagic production in summer after melting has started and more open water has become accessible, and ice production in spring before the ice cover melts. Judged by the developmental stage of the plankton populations, the northern Barents Sea consists of several sub-areas with different phytoplankton situations. Estimates of both daily and annual carbon production have been based on in situ measurements. Although there are few sampling stations (6 phytoplankton stations and 8 ice-algae stations), the measurements represent both pelagic bloom and non-bloom conditions and ice algal day and night production. The annual production in ice was estimated to 5.3 g Cm^-2, compared to the pelagic production of 25 to 30 g Cm^-2 south of Kvitøya and 12 to 15 g Cm^-2 further north. According to these estimates ice production thus constitutes 16% to 22% of the total primary production of the northern Barents Sea, depending on the extent of ice-free areas.     

Aerial strip surveys of polar bears in the Barents Sea

Aerial strip surveys of polar bears in the Barents Sea were performed by helicopter in winter 1987. The number of bears within 100 m on each side of the helicopter was counted. A total of 263.6 km² was surveyed and 21 bears were counted. Most of the bears were found in the southern part of the area, which indicates that the southwestern ice edge area in the Barents Sea is a very important winter habitat for polar bears.     

Seasonal and spatial changes in the zooplankton community of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

Seasonal changes in the zooplankton composition of the glacially influenced Kongsfjorden, Svalbard (79°N, 12°E), and its adjacent shelf were studied in 2002. Samples were collected in the spring, summer and autumn in stratified hauls (according to hydrographic characteristics), by means of a 0.180-mm Multi Plankton Sampler. A strong front between the open sea and the fjord waters was observed during the spring, preventing water mass exchange, but was not observed later in the season. The considerable seasonal changes in zooplankton abundance were related to the seasonal variation in hydrographical regime. The total zooplankton abundance during the spring (40–2010 individuals m⁻³) was much lower than in the summer and autumn (410–10 560 individuals m⁻³). The main factors shaping the zooplankton community in the fjord include: the presence of a local front, advection, the flow pattern and the decreasing depth of the basin in the inner fjord. Presumably these factors regulate the gross pattern of zooplankton density and distribution, and override the importance of biological processes. This study increased our understanding of seasonal processes in fjords, particularly with regard to the strong seasonal variability in the Arctic.     

Deglacial land emergence and lateral upper-mantle heterogeneity in the Svalbard Archipelago—II. Extended results for high-resolution load models

In Paper I (Breuer & Wolf 1995), a preliminary interpretation of the postglacial land emergence observed at a restricted set of six locations in the Svalbard Archipelago was given. The study was based on a simple model of the Barents Sea ice sheet and suggested increases in lithosphere thickness and asthenosphere viscosity with increasing distance from the continental margin.
In the present paper, the newly developed high-resolution load model. BARENTS-2, and land-uplift observations from an extended set of 25 locations are used to study further the possibility of resolving lateral heterogeneity in the upper mantle below the northern Barents Sea. A comparison of the calculated and observed uplift values shows that the lithosphere thickness is not well resolved by the observations, although values above 110 km are most common for this parameter. In contrast to this, there are indications of a lateral variation of asthenosphere viscosity. Whereas values in the range 10¹⁸-10²⁰Pas are inferred for locations close to the continental margin, 10²⁰-10²¹ Pa s are suggested further away from the margin.
A study of the sensitivity of the values found for lithosphere thickness and asthenosphere viscosity to modifications of load model BARENTS-2 shows that such modifications can be largely accommodated by appropriate changes in lithosphere thickness, whereas the suggested lateral variation of asthenosphere viscosity is essentially unaffected. An estimate of the influence of the Fennoscandian. ice sheet leads to the conclusion that its neglect results in an underestimation of the thickness of the Barents Sea ice sheet by about 10 per cent.     

Calorific value, lipid content and radioactivity of common species from Hornsund, Southwest Spitsbergen

In the summer of 1981 the common flora and fauna of 28 species from Hornsund were collected, and the energy value, lipid content and global activity determined. It was found that the plants had low energy values, varying from 12.26 ± 0.42 kJ g⁻¹ dry weight to 15.45 ±1.00kJ'dry weight. The highest values in animals were noted in Liparis liparis (Pisces) 22.15 ± 0.89 kJg⁻¹ dry weight, and Sagitta elegans (Chae-tognatha) 20.64 ± 0.49kJg⁻¹, the lowest being in Orchomene minuta (Amphipoda) 11.30 ± 0.74kJg⁻¹d.w. The lipid contents in the species studied were mostly low, the mean range from lowest to highest being 1.37-8.60% for plants and 7.14–31.93% for animals, and they were proportional to the energy value. Both the energy values and lipid contents were comparable to those in similar species from other waters. The global fi activity in the organisms analysed was not high; at the same time plants had a higher content of radioactive isotopes, 1.97-61.9pCi g⁻¹ d.w., than animals, 5.2-17.8pCi g⁻¹ d.w.     

Recent foraminifera in glaciomarine sediments from three arctic fjords of Novaja Zemlja and Svalbard

Foraminifera were examined in recent (<100 years) fine-grained glaciomarine muds from surface sediments and cores from Nordensheld Bay, Novaja Zemlja, and Hornsund and Bellsund, Spitsbergen. This study presents the first data on modern foraminifera distribution for fjord environments in Novaja Zemlja, Russia. The data are interpreted with reference to the distribution of foraminiferal near Svalbard and the Barents Sea. In Nordensheld Bay, live and dead Nonionellina labradorica and Islandiella norcrossi are most abundant in the outer fjord. Cassidulina reniforme and Allogromiina spp. dominate in the middle and inner fjord. The dominant species are dissimilar to species occurring in other areas of the Barents Sea region, with the exception of Svalbard fjords. The number of live foraminifera (24 to 122 tests/10 cm¹) in outer and middle Nordensheld Bay corresponds with values known from the open Barents Sea. However, the biomass (0.03 mg/10 cm³) is two orders of magnitude less due to smaller foraminiferal test size, which in glaciomarine sediments reflects the absence of larger species, paucity of large specimens, and high occurrence of juvenile foraminifera. The smaller size indicates an opportunistic response to environmental stress due to glacier proximity. The presence of Quinqueloculina stalkeri is diagnostic of glaciomarine environments in fjords of Novaja Zemlja and Svalbard.     

A Reconstruction of Mid–summer Temperatures from Ring–widths of Scots Pine since ad 50 in Northern Fennoscandia

We have reconstructed mid–summer (July) temperatures using a master ring–width chronology of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) for northern Fennoscandia, covering nearly the last two millennia. The chronology is constructed from 93 living trees and 275 dead trees collected between 68 ^∘ and 70 ^∘ N, 20 ^∘ and 30 ^∘ E. In standardization, negative exponential functions and, alternatively, regression lines were applied. Because of a strong autocorrelation in the data, we used a model structure including 2–year lagging and a 3–year leading predicter along with the master chronology in the transfer function. Over one–half of the dependent climate variance was retrieved in our final reconstruction model. We indicate the largest temperature anomalies of individual summers as well as longer–term temperature variability starting from ad 50.     

Source, density and composition of sympagic fauna in the Barents Sea

The sympagic fauna (= ice fauna) of the Barents Sea was investigated on nine different cruises in 1982-1988. Each cruise lasted from two to five weeks. Sampling techniques were based on scuba diving. The abundant sympagic organisms were the polar cod ( Boreogadus saida ) and the three amphipods Apherusa glacialis, Onisimus sp. and Gammarus wilkitzkii .
Mean biomass-values (wet weight) of the invertebrate sympagic fauna ranged from 0 to 2 g/m². Values above 0.001 g/m² were not recorded in five of the nine cruises. This is orders of magnitude lower than mean values recorded in multi-year ice north of Svalbard and in the Fram Strait where values between 1-10g/m² are quite common.
Apherusa glacialis seemed to have the best spreading capacity of the three most conspicuous amphipods. Gammarus wilkitzkii was most dependent on a passive transport with the ice.
Sympagic amphipods play an important part in a food chain from microalgae to polar cod and marine birds in areas covered with ice, especially in areas with multi-year ice.     

222Rn and 226Ra: indicators of sea-ice effects on air-sea gas exchange

²²² Rn and ²²⁶Ra distributions beneath the sea ice of the Barents Sea revealed that ice cover has varied effects on air-sea gas exchange. Twice, once in late summer and once in late winter, seawater samples from the top meter below drill holes had ²²²Rn activities that were not lower than their ^226,Ra activities, indicating the existence of secular equilibrium and a negligible net exchange of ²²²Rn and other gases with the atmosphere. However, seawater in the upper 20-85 m usually exhibited at least some ²²²Rn depletion; ²²²Rn-to-²²⁶Ra activity ratios tended to have 'ice-free' values (0.3-0.9) in the summer and values between 0.9 and 1.0 in the winter. Integrated ²²²Rn depletions and piston velocities in both seasons typically fell in the lower 25% of the ranges for ice-free seawater, suggesting that a moderate but far from total reduction in gas exchange is normally caused by ice cover and/or meltwater. The results demonstrate that sea-ice interference with the oceanic uptake of atmospheric gases such as CO, is not well understood and needs further investigation.     

2012年马卡诺夫海盆与楚科奇深海平原浮游动物夏季的垂直分布及地理差异

利用2012年9月1—6日采自马卡诺夫海盆3个站位和楚科奇深海平原1个站位的分层浮游动物样品,研究了浮游动物在0—1 000 m水层的垂直分布以及地理差异。结果表明,浮游动物在上层分布密集而在深层比较稀少。4个站位在0—50 m、50—100 m和100—200 m水层的平均丰度分别为265.0、360.7和231.2 ind·m^-3,而在200—500 m和500—1 000 m的丰度只有64.4和36.9 ind·m^-3。在数量上占优势的种类中,植食性为主的拟长腹剑水蚤(Oithona similis)、北极哲水蚤(Calanus glacialis)和极北哲水蚤(Calanus hyperboreus)集中在200 m以浅的水层。虽然在200m以下杂食性种类矮小微哲水蚤(Microcalanus pygmaeus)、隆剑水蚤(Oncaea spp.)和细长长腹水蚤(Metridia longa)的丰度明显降低,但是占浮游动物总丰度的比例却明显更高。两个调查海区浮游动物种类组成相似,但是楚科奇深海平原大型桡足类极北哲水蚤的丰度较高,而小型桡足类丰度较低?垂直分布上差异主要在于500—1 000 m水层,马卡诺夫海盆站位丰度为22.7—92.6 ind·m^-3,而楚科奇深海平原只有1.6 ind·m^-3。深海区浮游动物丰度的地理差异说明生物泵的作用存在空间异质性。类似地理差异产生的原因在于楚科奇深海平原存在数量较多的极北哲水蚤,它们在春季融冰前就上升到表层摄食冰藻,显著降低了有机物的垂直通量。