Drivers of Phytoplankton Bloom Interannual Variability in the Amundsen and Pine Island Polynyas

The Amundsen Sea Embayment experiences both the highest ice shelf melt rates and the highest biological productivity in West Antarctica. Using 19 years of satellite data and modelling output, we investigated the long-term influence of environmental factors on the phytoplankton bloom in the Amundsen sea (ASP) and Pine Island polynyas (PIP). We tested the prevailing hypothesis that changes in ice shelf melt rate could drive interannual variability in the polynyas’ surface chlorophyll-a (chla) and Net Primary Productivity (NPP). We found that the interannual variability and long-term change in glacial meltwater may play an important role in chla variance in the ASP, but not for NPP. Glacial meltwater does not explain the variability in both chla and NPP in the PIP, where light and temperature are the main drivers. We attribute this to potentially greater amount of iron-enriched meltwater brought to the surface by the meltwater pump downstream of the PIP, and the coastal ocean circulation accumulating and transporting iron towards the ASP.