Jiayun Zhou

Drivers of inorganic carbon dynamics in first-year sea ice: A model study

Sea ice is an active source or a sink for carbon dioxide (CO2), although to what extent is not clear. Here, we analyze CO2 dynamics within sea ice using a one-dimensional halothermodynamic sea ice model including gas physics and carbon biogeochemistry. The ice-ocean fluxes, and vertical transport, of total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) are represented using fluid transport equations. Carbonate chemistry, the consumption, and release of CO2 by primary production and respiration, the precipitation and dissolution of ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O) and ice-air CO2 fluxes, are also included. The model is evaluated using observations from a 6 month field study at Point Barrow, Alaska, and an ice-tank experiment. At Barrow, results show that the DIC budget is mainly driven by physical processes, wheras brine-air CO2 fluxes, ikaite formation, and net primary production, are secondary factors. In terms of ice-atmosphere CO2 exchanges, sea ice is a net CO2 source and sink in winter and summer, respectively. The formulation of the ice-atmosphere CO2 flux impacts the simulated near-surface CO2 partial pressure (pCO2), but not the DIC budget. Because the simulated ice-atmosphere CO2 fluxes are limited by DIC stocks, and therefore <2 mmol m−2 d−1, we argue that the observed much larger CO2 fluxes from eddy covariance retrievals cannot be explained by a sea ice direct source and must involve other processes or other sources of CO2. Finally, the simulations suggest that near-surface TA/DIC ratios of ∼2, sometimes used as an indicator of calcification, would rather suggest outgassing.

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.