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Titel |
Ikaite crystals in melting sea ice – implications for pCO2 and pH levels in Arctic surface waters |
VerfasserIn |
S. Rysgaard, R. N. Glud, K. Lennert, M. Cooper, N. Halden, R. J. G. Leakey, F. C. Hawthorne , D. Barber |
Medientyp |
Artikel
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Sprache |
Englisch
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ISSN |
1994-0416
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Digitales Dokument |
URL |
Erschienen |
In: The Cryosphere ; 6, no. 4 ; Nr. 6, no. 4 (2012-08-15), S.901-908 |
Datensatznummer |
250003700
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Publikation (Nr.) |
copernicus.org/tc-6-901-2012.pdf |
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Zusammenfassung |
A major issue of Arctic marine science is to understand whether the Arctic
Ocean is, or will be, a source or sink for air–sea CO2 exchange. This
has been complicated by the recent discoveries of ikaite (a polymorph of
CaCO3·6H2O) in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, which indicate that
multiple chemical transformations occur in sea ice with a possible effect on
CO2 and pH conditions in surface waters. Here, we report on
biogeochemical conditions, microscopic examinations and x-ray diffraction
analysis of single crystals from a melting 1.7 km2 (0.5–1 m thick)
drifting ice floe in the Fram Strait during summer. Our findings show that
ikaite crystals are present throughout the sea ice but with larger crystals
appearing in the upper ice layers. Ikaite crystals placed at elevated
temperatures disintegrated into smaller crystallites and dissolved. During
our field campaign in late June, melt reduced the ice floe thickness by
0.2 m per week and resulted in an estimated 3.8 ppm decrease of pCO2
in the ocean surface mixed layer. This corresponds to an air–sea CO2
uptake of 10.6 mmol m−2 sea ice d−1 or to 3.3 ton km−2
ice floe week−1. This is markedly higher than the estimated primary
production within the ice floe of 0.3–1.3 mmol m−2 sea ice d−1.
Finally, the presence of ikaite in sea ice and the dissolution of the mineral
during melting of the sea ice and mixing of the melt water into the surface
oceanic mixed layer accounted for half of the estimated pCO2 uptake. |
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