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Scales of horizontal patchiness in chlorophyll a, chemical and physical properties of landfast sea ice in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea)

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Abstract

Horizontal variation of first-year landfast sea ice properties was studied in the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea. Several scales of variation were considered; a number of arrays with core spacings of 0.2, 2 and 20 m were sampled at different stages of the ice season for small-scale patchiness. Spacing between these arrays was from hundreds of meters to kilometers to study mesoscale variability, and once an onshore–offshore 40-km transect was sampled to study regional scale variability. Measured variables included salinity, stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O), chlorophyll a (chl-a), nutrients and dissolved organic carbon. On a large scale, a combination of variations in the under-ice water salinity (ice porosity), nutrient supply and the stage of ice development control the build-up of ice algal biomass. At scales of hundreds of meters to kilometers, there was significant variability in several parameters (salinity, chl-a, snow depth and ice thickness). Analyses of the data from the arrays did not show evidence of significant patchiness at scales <20 m for algal biomass. The results imply that the sampling effort in Baltic Sea ice studies should be concentrated on scales of hundreds of meters to kilometers. Using the variations observed in the study area, the estimate for depth-integrated algal biomass in landfast sea ice in the Gulf of Finland (March 2003) is 5.5±4.4 mg chl-a m−2.

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Acknowledgements

The participants of the Finnish-German “Sea ice ecology” course (joint undertaking by the University of Helsinki and University of Kiel) are acknowledged for their aid in field work and sample processing. Tvärminne Zoological Station provided facilities for sample processing. Ilkka Lastumäki and Kirsi Hyvärinen at FIMR made the nutrient analyses and Dylan Evans made the DOC measurements at UWB. Jouni Vainio provided radar images and interpretations of ice conditions. Suggestions made by three anonymous referees improved the manuscript. The editorial aid of Rolf Gradinger is also acknowledged. The Academy of Finland, the Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation granted support for this work.

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Author notes

  1. Jens Ehn

    Present address: Centre for Earth Observation Science, Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122, 96101, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Mats A. Granskog

  2. Finnish Institute of Marine Research, Helsinki, Finland

    Hermanni Kaartokallio

  3. Tvärminne Zoological Station, Hanko, Finland

    Harri Kuosa

  4. School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales Bangor, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, UK

    David N. Thomas

  5. Division of Geophysics, University of Helsinki, Finland

    Jens Ehn

  6. Dating Laboratory, University of Helsinki, Finland

    Eloni Sonninen

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  1. Mats A. Granskog
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Correspondence to Mats A. Granskog.

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Granskog, M.A., Kaartokallio, H., Kuosa, H. et al. Scales of horizontal patchiness in chlorophyll a, chemical and physical properties of landfast sea ice in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea). Polar Biol 28, 276–283 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0690-5

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