POMP project announces a new scientific paper published in the prestigious journal PNAS reporting interesting findings about the Arctic Ocean’s seafloor productivity in response to diminishing sea ice. This publication by Karl Attard and colleagues focuses on how benthic primary producer dynamics are still understudied in the Arctic.
As Arctic Sea ice continues to retreat, vast expanses of the ocean are exposed to sunlight each summer, potentially enhancing photosynthetic activity. Karl Attard and other researchers have discovered that despite greater sunlit areas, the expected increase in primary production on the Arctic seafloor has not uniformly materialized. This inconsistency is largely attributed to varying water transparency affected by factors like phytoplankton and sediment, which absorb or scatter sunlight before it can reach the seafloor.
The study also notes an intriguing development: as sunlight penetrates newly ice-free waters, there is a regional variation in biomass production across the Arctic. Some areas show increased primary production along coastlines of Greenland and Canada, while others, like the Russian continental shelf, experience a decline.
POMP research initiatives are designed to delve deeper into these findings and will be filling some of these knowledge gaps, seeking a better understanding of the role of these key organisms in a changing polar ocean.
The POMP project encourages everyone to watch the video available on our website that summarizes the importance of this recently published paper.
Stay tuned to our website and social media for further updates on how POMP is contributing to this vital area of research, shaping the future of polar exploration and conservation.