Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-19-2022
Department
Marine Science
School
Ocean Science and Engineering
Abstract
Summertime wildfire activity is increasing in boreal forest and tundra ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the impact of long range transport and deposition of wildfire aerosols on biogeochemical cycles in the Arctic Ocean is unknown. Here, we use satellite-based ocean color data, atmospheric modeling and back trajectory analysis to investigate the transport and fate of aerosols emitted from Siberian wildfires in summer 2014 and their potential impact on phytoplankton dynamics in the Arctic Ocean. We detect large phytoplankton blooms near the North Pole (up to 82°N in the eastern Eurasian Basin). Our analysis indicates that these blooms were induced by the northward plume transport and deposition of nutrient-bearing wildfire aerosols. We estimate that these highly stratified surface waters received large amounts of wildfire-derived nitrogen, which alleviated nutrient stress in the phytoplankton community and triggered an unusually large bloom event. Our findings suggest that changes in wildfire activity may strongly influence summertime productivity in the Arctic Ocean.
Publication Title
Communications Earth & Environment
Volume
3
Issue
201
Recommended Citation
Ardyna, M.,
Hamilton, D. S.,
Harmel, T.,
Lacour, L.,
Bernstein, D. N.,
Laliberté, J.,
Horvat, C.,
Laxenaire, R.,
Mills, M. M.,
van Dijken, G.,
Polyakov, I.,
Claustre, H.,
Mahowald, N.,
Arrigo, K. R.
(2022). Wildfire Aerosol Deposition Likely Amplified a Summertime Arctic Phytoplankton Bloom. Communications Earth & Environment, 3(201).
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/20701