Gauthier Carnat

Dynamics of pCO2 and related air-ice CO2 fluxes in the Arctic coastal zone (Amundsen Gulf, Beaufort Sea)

We present an Arctic seasonal survey of carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO 2 ) dynamics within sea ice brine and related air-ice CO 2 fluxes. The survey was carried out from early spring to the beginning of summer in the Arctic coastal waters of the Amundsen Gulf. High concentrations of pCO 2 (up to 1834 matm) were observed in the sea ice in early April as a consequence of concentration of solutes in brines, CaCO 3 precipitation and microbial respiration. CaCO 3 precipitation was detected through anomalies in total alkalinity (TA) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). This precipitation seems to have occurred in highly saline brine in the upper part of the ice cover and in bulk ice. As summer draws near, the ice temperature increases and brine pCO 3 shifts from a large supersaturation (1834 matm) to a marked undersaturation (down to almost 0 matm). This decrease was ascribed to brine dilution by ice meltwater, dissolution of CaCO 3 and photosynthesis during the sympagic algal bloom. The magnitude of the CO 2 fluxes was controlled by ice temperature (through its control on brine volume and brine channels connectivity) and the concentration gradient between brine and the atmosphere. However, the state of the ice-interface clearly affects air-ice CO 2 fluxes.

Southern Ocean CO2 sink: The contribution of the sea ice

We report first direct measurements of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) within Antarctic pack sea ice brines and related CO2 fluxes across the air-ice interface. From late winter to summer, brines encased in the ice change from a CO2 large oversaturation, relative to the atmosphere, to a marked undersaturation while the underlying oceanic waters remains slightly oversaturated. The decrease from winter to summer of pCO2 in the brines is driven by dilution with melting ice, dissolution of carbonate crystals, and net primary production. As the ice warms, its permeability increases, allowing CO2 transfer at the air-sea ice interface. The sea ice changes from a transient source to a sink for atmospheric CO2. We upscale these observations to the whole Antarctic sea ice cover using the NEMO-LIM3 large-scale sea ice-ocean and provide first estimates of spring and summer CO2 uptake from the atmosphere by Antarctic sea ice. Over the spring-summer period, the Antarctic sea ice cover is a net sink of atmospheric CO2 of 0.029 Pg C, about 58% of the estimated annual uptake from the Southern Ocean. Sea ice then contributes significantly to the sink of CO2 of the Southern Ocean.

Carbonate system evolution at the Arctic Ocean surface during autumn freeze‐up

Based on comprehensive measurements of carbonate system parameters in sea ice, brines, and surface waters across a variety of ice types in the eastern Beaufort Sea during November and December of 2007, the newly forming sea ice appeared to release CO2. Not only was pCO2 high within the ice, but high salinities and inorganic carbon concentrations in the surface waters directly below the ice and in frost flowers above the ice indicated that brines and CO2 were moving out of the ice as it was forming. In addition, relative to salinity, the ice was generally enriched in alkalinity but depleted in total inorganic carbon. These observations support the hypothesis that as sea ice forms, increasing brine concentrations and CaCO3 precipitation release CO2. However, based on this data set, we are unable to quantify the relative importance of release to the atmosphere versus to the underlying waters. In addition, a comparison of three different methods for determining pCO2 in sea ice highlights a critical need for additional methodological development. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Impact of sea-ice processes on the carbonate system and ocean acidification at the ice-water interface of the Amundsen Gulf, Arctic Ocean

[1] From sea-ice formation in November 2007 to onset of ice melt in May 2008, we studied the carbonate system in first-year Arctic sea ice, focusing on the impact of calciumcarbonate (CaCO3) saturation states of aragonite (XAr) and calcite (XCa) at the ice-water interface (UIW). Based on total inorganic carbon (CT) and total alkalinity (AT), and derived pH, CO2, carbonate ion ([CO3 22 ]) concentrations and X, we investigated the major drivers such as brine rejection, CaCO3 precipitation, bacterial respiration, primary production and CO2-gas flux in sea ice, brine, frost flowers and UIW. We estimated large variability in seaice CT at the top, mid, and bottom ice. Changes due to CaCO3 and CO2-gas flux had large impact on CT in the whole ice core from March to May, bacterial respiration was important at the bottom ice during all months, and primary production in May. It was evident that the sea-ice processes had large impact on UIW, resulting in a five times larger seasonal amplitude of the carbonate system, relative to the upper 20 m. During ice formation, [CO2] increased by 30 mmol kg 21 ,[ CO 3 22 ] decreased by 50 mmol kg 21 , and the XAr decreased by 0.8 in the UIW due to CO2-enriched brine from solid CaCO3. Conversely, during ice melt, [CO3 22 ] increased by 90 mmol kg 21 in the UIW, and X increased by 1.4 between March and May, likely due to CaCO3 dissolution and primary production. We estimated that increased ice melt would lead to enhanced oceanic uptake of inorganic carbon to the surface layer.

Inorganic carbon system dynamics in landfast Arctic sea ice during the early-melt period

We present the results of a 6 week time series of carbonate system and stable isotope measurements investigating the effects of sea ice on air-sea CO2 exchange during the early melt period in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Our observations revealed significant changes in sea ice and sackhole brine carbonate system parameters that were associated with increasing temperatures and the buildup of chlorophyll a in bottom ice. The warming sea-ice column could be separated into distinct geochemical zones where biotic and abiotic processes exerted different influences on inorganic carbon and pCO2 distributions. In the bottom ice, biological carbon uptake maintained undersaturated pCO2 conditions throughout the time series, while pCO2 was supersaturated in the upper ice. Low CO2 permeability of the sea ice matrix and snow cover effectively impeded CO2 efflux to the atmosphere, despite a strong pCO2 gradient. Throughout the middle of the ice column, brine pCO2 decreased significantly with time and was tightly controlled by solubility, as sea ice temperature and in situ melt dilution increased. Once the influence of melt dilution was accounted for, both CaCO3 dissolution and seawater mixing were found to contribute alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon to brines, with the CaCO3 contribution driving brine pCO2 to values lower than predicted from melt-water dilution alone. This field study reveals a dynamic carbon system within the rapidly warming sea ice, prior to snow melt. We suggest that the early spring period drives the ice column toward pCO2 undersaturation, contributing to a weak atmospheric CO2 sink as the melt period advances.

Physical and biological controls on DMS,P dynamics in ice shelf-influenced fast ice during a winter-spring and a spring-summer transitions

We report the seasonal and vertical variations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and its precursor dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in fast ice at Cape Evans, McMurdo Sound (Antarctica) during the spring-summer transition in 2011 and winter-spring transition in 2012. We compare the variations of DMS,P observed to the seasonal evolution of the ice algal biomass and of the physical properties of the ice cover, with emphasis on the ice texture and brine dynamics. Isolated DMS and DMSP maxima were found during both seasonal episodes in interior ice and corresponded to the occurrence of platelet crystals in the ice texture. We show that platelet crystals formation corresponded in time and depth to the incorporation of dinoflagellates (strong DMSP producers) in the ice cover. We also show that platelet crystals could modify the environmental stresses on algal cells and perturb the vertical redistribution of DMS,P concentrations. We show that during the winter-spring transition in 2012, the DMS,P profiles were strongly influenced by the development and decline of a diatom-dominated bloom in the bottom ice, with DMSP variations remarkably following chl a variations. During the spring-summer transition in 2011, the increase in brine volume fraction (influencing ice permeability) on warming was shown to trigger (1) an important release of DMS to the under-ice water through brine convection and (2) a vertical redistribution of DMSP across the ice.

Biogeochemical Impact of Snow Cover and Cyclonic Intrusions on the Winter Weddell Sea Ice Pack

Sea ice is a dynamic biogeochemical reactor and a double interface actively interacting with both the atmosphere and the ocean. However, proper understanding of its annual impact on exchanges, and therefore potentially on the climate, notably suffer from the paucity of autumnal and winter data sets. Here we present the results of physical and biogeochemical investigations on winter Antarctic pack ice in the Weddell Sea (R.V. Polarstern AWECS cruise, July-August 2013) which are compared with those from two similar studies conducted in the area in 1986 and 1992. The winter 2013 was characterized by a warm sea ice cover due to the combined effects of deep snow and frequent warm cyclones events penetrating southwards from the open Southern Ocean. These conditions were favorable to high ice permeability and cyclic events of brine movements within the sea ice cover (brine tubes), favoring relatively high chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations. We discuss the timing of this algal activity showing that arguments can be presented in favor of continued activity during the winter due to the specific physical conditions. Large-scale sea ice model simulations also suggest a context of increasingly deep snow, warm ice and large brine fractions across the three observational years, despite the fact that the model is forced with a snowfall climatology. This lends support to the claim that more severe Antarctic sea ice conditions, characterized by a longer ice season, thicker and more concentrated ice are sufficient to increase the snow depth and, somehow counter-intuitively, to warm the ice.