Algae drive enhanced darkening of bare ice on the Greenland ice sheet

Marek Stibal; Jason Box; Karen Cameron; Peter L. Langen; Marian L. Yallop; Ruth H. Mottram; Alia L. Khan; Noah P. Molotch; Nathan A. M. Chrismas; Filippo Calì  Quaglia; Daniel Remias; C. J. Paul Smeets; Michiel R. van den Broeke; Jonathan Ryan; Alun Hubbard; Martyn Tranter; Dirk Van As; Andreas P. Ahlstrøm

doi:10.1002/2017GL075958

Algae drive enhanced darkening of bare ice on the Greenland ice sheet

Marek Stibal, Jason Box, Karen Cameron, Peter L. Langen, Marian L. Yallop, Ruth H. Mottram, Alia L. Khan, Noah P. Molotch, Nathan A. M. Chrismas, Filippo Calì Quaglia, Daniel Remias, C. J. Paul Smeets, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Jonathan Ryan, Alun Hubbard, Martyn Tranter, Dirk Van As, Andreas P. Ahlstrøm

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Abstract

Surface ablation of the Greenland ice sheet is amplified by surface darkening caused by light-absorbing impurities such as mineral dust, black carbon, and pigmented microbial cells. We present the first quantitative assessment of the microbial contribution to the ice sheet surface darkening, based on field measurements of surface reflectance and concentrations of light-absorbing impurities, including pigmented algae, during the 2014 melt season in the southwestern part of the ice sheet. The impact of algae on bare ice darkening in the study area was greater than that of non-algal impurities and yielded a net albedo reduction of 0.038 ± 0.0035 for each algal population doubling. We argue that algal growth is a crucial control of bare ice darkening, and incorporating the algal darkening effect will improve mass balance and sea level projections of the Greenland ice sheet and ice masses elsewhere

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11463-11471
Number of pages	9
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	44
Issue number	22
Early online date	18 Nov 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075958
Publication status	Published - 28 Nov 2017

Keywords

greenland ice sheet
algae
albedo
light-absorbing impurities
melting

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Stibal, M., Box, J., Cameron, K., Langen, P. L., Yallop, M. L., Mottram, R. H., Khan, A. L., Molotch, N. P., Chrismas, N. A. M., Quaglia, F. C., Remias, D., Smeets, C. J. P., van den Broeke, M. R., Ryan, J., Hubbard, A., Tranter, M., Van As, D., & Ahlstrøm, A. P. (2017). Algae drive enhanced darkening of bare ice on the Greenland ice sheet. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(22), 11463-11471. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075958

@article{23e43fefdff54f948f9bfea6b15cc777,

title = "Algae drive enhanced darkening of bare ice on the Greenland ice sheet",

abstract = "Surface ablation of the Greenland ice sheet is amplified by surface darkening caused by light-absorbing impurities such as mineral dust, black carbon, and pigmented microbial cells. We present the first quantitative assessment of the microbial contribution to the ice sheet surface darkening, based on field measurements of surface reflectance and concentrations of light-absorbing impurities, including pigmented algae, during the 2014 melt season in the southwestern part of the ice sheet. The impact of algae on bare ice darkening in the study area was greater than that of non-algal impurities and yielded a net albedo reduction of 0.038 ± 0.0035 for each algal population doubling. We argue that algal growth is a crucial control of bare ice darkening, and incorporating the algal darkening effect will improve mass balance and sea level projections of the Greenland ice sheet and ice masses elsewhere",

keywords = "greenland ice sheet, algae, albedo, light-absorbing impurities, melting",

author = "Marek Stibal and Jason Box and Karen Cameron and Langen, {Peter L.} and Yallop, {Marian L.} and Mottram, {Ruth H.} and Khan, {Alia L.} and Molotch, {Noah P.} and Chrismas, {Nathan A. M.} and Quaglia, {Filippo Cal{\`i}} and Daniel Remias and Smeets, {C. J. Paul} and {van den Broeke}, {Michiel R.} and Jonathan Ryan and Alun Hubbard and Martyn Tranter and {Van As}, Dirk and Ahlstr{\o}m, {Andreas P.}",

year = "2017",

month = nov,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1002/2017GL075958",

language = "English",

volume = "44",

pages = "11463--11471",

journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

issn = "0094-8276",

publisher = "American Geophysical Union",

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Stibal, M, Box, J, Cameron, K, Langen, PL, Yallop, ML, Mottram, RH, Khan, AL, Molotch, NP, Chrismas, NAM, Quaglia, FC, Remias, D, Smeets, CJP, van den Broeke, MR, Ryan, J, Hubbard, A, Tranter, M, Van As, D & Ahlstrøm, AP 2017, 'Algae drive enhanced darkening of bare ice on the Greenland ice sheet', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 44, no. 22, pp. 11463-11471. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075958

TY - JOUR

T1 - Algae drive enhanced darkening of bare ice on the Greenland ice sheet

AU - Stibal, Marek

AU - Box, Jason

AU - Cameron, Karen

AU - Langen, Peter L.

AU - Yallop, Marian L.

AU - Mottram, Ruth H.

AU - Khan, Alia L.

AU - Molotch, Noah P.

AU - Chrismas, Nathan A. M.

AU - Quaglia, Filippo Calì

AU - Remias, Daniel

AU - Smeets, C. J. Paul

AU - van den Broeke, Michiel R.

AU - Ryan, Jonathan

AU - Hubbard, Alun

AU - Tranter, Martyn

AU - Van As, Dirk

AU - Ahlstrøm, Andreas P.

PY - 2017/11/28

Y1 - 2017/11/28

N2 - Surface ablation of the Greenland ice sheet is amplified by surface darkening caused by light-absorbing impurities such as mineral dust, black carbon, and pigmented microbial cells. We present the first quantitative assessment of the microbial contribution to the ice sheet surface darkening, based on field measurements of surface reflectance and concentrations of light-absorbing impurities, including pigmented algae, during the 2014 melt season in the southwestern part of the ice sheet. The impact of algae on bare ice darkening in the study area was greater than that of non-algal impurities and yielded a net albedo reduction of 0.038 ± 0.0035 for each algal population doubling. We argue that algal growth is a crucial control of bare ice darkening, and incorporating the algal darkening effect will improve mass balance and sea level projections of the Greenland ice sheet and ice masses elsewhere

AB - Surface ablation of the Greenland ice sheet is amplified by surface darkening caused by light-absorbing impurities such as mineral dust, black carbon, and pigmented microbial cells. We present the first quantitative assessment of the microbial contribution to the ice sheet surface darkening, based on field measurements of surface reflectance and concentrations of light-absorbing impurities, including pigmented algae, during the 2014 melt season in the southwestern part of the ice sheet. The impact of algae on bare ice darkening in the study area was greater than that of non-algal impurities and yielded a net albedo reduction of 0.038 ± 0.0035 for each algal population doubling. We argue that algal growth is a crucial control of bare ice darkening, and incorporating the algal darkening effect will improve mass balance and sea level projections of the Greenland ice sheet and ice masses elsewhere

KW - greenland ice sheet

KW - algae

KW - albedo

KW - light-absorbing impurities

KW - melting

U2 - 10.1002/2017GL075958

DO - 10.1002/2017GL075958

M3 - Article

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 44

SP - 11463

EP - 11471

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 22

ER -

Algae drive enhanced darkening of bare ice on the Greenland ice sheet

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Keywords

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