Biophysical studies of the Polar Front in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Front in the Norwegian Sea: Results from the NESSAR Project

摘要

The International Polar Year (IPY) Project NESSAR (Norwegian Ecosystem Study of Subarctic and Arctic Regions) undertook extensive interdisciplinary surveys of the Polar Front in the Barents Sea on Spitsbergen Bank and Storbanken and of the Arctic Front south of Jan Mayen in the Norwegian Sea. These frontal studies were undertaken to answer the following three main questions. First, are the frontal regions more productive than adjacent regions? Second, what are the physical characteristics that contribute to their higher productivity, or lack of it? Third, how do the consumers (i.e. fish and benthos) use the fronts? To address these issues, fully interdisciplinary cruiseswere conducted during June of 2007 andMay-June of 2008 in the Norwegian Sea and during August of 2007 and April-May of 2008 in the Barents Sea. Measurements included hydrography, currents, turbulence, nutrients, phytoplankton, benthos, zooplankton and fish. Instruments, in addition to the standard CTDs and net tows, included a microstructure profiler for turbulence measurements, autonomous gliders equipped with a CTD and a fluorometer, and towed gear that included a CTD, fluorometer and Optical Plankton Counter (OPC). Additional cruises were conducted during May-June of 2007, February-March of 2008 and September-October of 2009 in the Barents Sea at which time hydrographic and current surveys were conducted along with benthic sampling in the vicinity of the Polar Front.