Observation-Based Estimate of Net Community Production in Antarctic Sea Ice

Abstract

Antarctic sea ice is one of the largest biomes on Earth providing a critical habitat for ice algae. Measurements of primary production in Antarctic sea ice remain scarce and an observation-based estimate of primary production has not been revisited in over 30 years. We fill this knowledge gap by presenting a newly compiled circumpolar data set of particulate and dissolved organic carbon from 362 ice cores, sampled between 1989 and 2019, to estimate sea-ice net community production using a carbon biomass accumulation approach. Our estimate of 26.8–32.9 Tg C yr⁻¹ accounts for at least 15%–18% of the total primary production in the Antarctic sea-ice zone, less than a previous observation-based estimate (63–70 Tg C yr⁻¹) and consistent with recent modeled estimates. The results underpin the ecological significance of sea-ice algae as an early season resource for pelagic food webs.