Sea ice and nitrogen as major controls on phytoplankton production in the Pacific Arctic
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The Pacific Arctic, encompassing the Bering and Chukchi Seas between Alaska and Russia, is a highly productive region characterized by extreme seasonality in light and temperature. These seas host prolific stocks of seabirds and marine mammals, and are the sites of expanding human industrial exploration, including our nation's largest fishery. Seasonally ice-covered, the Bering and Chukchi Seas experience intense phytoplankton blooms as sea ice retreats each spring, fueled by high surface nutrient concentrations replenished over the winter. Of these nutrients, nitrogen (N) by far is in highest demand, owing to high rates of microbial N loss in the shallow, organic matter-rich sediments. The Pacific Arctic is also in the midst of unprecedented change due to anthropogenic warming. Field, modeling, and satellite-based studies have shown that the Chukchi Sea ice pack is thinning and diminishing in area. Compared to a decade ago, sea ice in this region retreats earlier, advances later, and covers far less total area during the summer. In turn, these changes profoundly alter the environment for phytoplankton, the single-celled photosynthetic organisms at the base of the Arctic food web. This thesis explores the roles of sea ice and nitrogen as the key factors that promote and ultimately set limits on phytoplankton production in the dynamic Pacific Arctic ecosystem.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Brown, Zachary West |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Environmental Earth System Science. |
| Primary advisor | Arrigo, Kevin R |
| Thesis advisor | Arrigo, Kevin R |
| Thesis advisor | Casciotti, Karen Lynn, 1974- |
| Thesis advisor | Thomas, Leif N |
| Advisor | Casciotti, Karen Lynn, 1974- |
| Advisor | Thomas, Leif N |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Zachary West Brown. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Environmental Earth System Science. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2014 by Zachary West Brown
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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