2/22/21 Climate, People, and the Environment Program Seminar - Miguel Goni

Title: Towards understanding the new Arctic: Late-season organic matter distributions in an ice-free Arctic Ocean
Speaker: Miguel Goni, Professor, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
Abstract:
Climate change and surface warming are leading to marked decreases in the extent and thickness of sea ice throughout the Arctic Ocean. The expansion of the seasonal ice zone and the lengthening of the open water season are likely to have profound, but poorly understood implications for the ecology of the Arctic Ocean. One fundamental question is whether or not a prolonged ice-free season will enhance or diminish productivity in Arctic marginal seas. In this presentation I highlight recent work my collaborators and I have been doing on the role that stratification and geographical features have on influencing distributions and compositions or particulate organic matter in the water column of the Chukchi Sea during the late open-water season. Our efforts contribute to the increased understanding of mechanisms of enhanced productivity during the open-water season and provide additional insights into potential biogeochemical impacts of increased and prolonged sea ice loss.