2002 ARCSS All-Hands Workshop

The Sea Ice Dynamic in Coastal Zone of the White Sea

Alexei V. Baklanov¹, Igor A. Melnikov^2
1P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky pr., 36, Moscow, Russia
²P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences , Nakhimovsky pr., 36, Moscow, 117851, Russia, Phone +7-095/124-5996, Fax +7-095/124-5983, migor@online.ru

Recently well known, that sea ice is an important component of the global climate system controlling miscellaneous natural processes in the polar oceans. However, a little is known about the sea-ice impact on the sea floor, the coastline and their habitants, and especially, in the coastal environment with the tidal dynamic. The annual advance and retreat of sea ice may be considered as a major physical determinant of spatial and temporal changes in the structure and function of marine coastal ecosystems.

In this presentation, we will demonstrate some of the data obtained in the tidal zone of Kandalaksha Gulf (White Sea) during the 1996-2001 period. Previous observations in this area were mainly obtained during the ice-free summer season, however, there were not any information on the ice-covered winter season (7 months duration), and, especially, on the sea-ice itself. During three expeditions in the winter season there were conducted series of standard transects along of coastline with sea ice samplings including the under ice observations of the sea ice/bottom floor interactions. Interannual cycles or trends in the annual extent of the sea ice during this period of observations have shown significant effects at all levels of the food web - from the winter production of the sea ice algae to breeding success among seabirds in the summer. It was concluded, that to understand all spectra of the ecological problems caused by pollution on the coastal zone, as well as, the problems of the sea ice melting caused by global warming, it needs an urgent integrated long-term study of the physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring in the coastal-shelf zone in the Russian Arctic.

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