Algal photophysiology drives darkening and melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

ABSTRACT: Blooms of Zygnematophycean "glacier algae" lower the bare ice albedo of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), amplifying summer energy absorption at the ice surface and enhancing meltwater runoff from the largest cryospheric contributor to contemporary sea-level rise. Here, we provide a step change in current understanding of algal-driven ice sheet darkening through quantification of the photophysiological mechanisms that allow glacier algae to thrive on and darken the bare ice surface. Significant secondary phenolic pigmentation (11 times the cellular content of chlorophyll a) enables glacier algae to tolerate extreme irradiance (up to ∼4,000 µmol photons⋅m-2⋅s-1) while simultaneously repurposing captured ultraviolet and short-wave radiation for melt generation. Total cellular energy absorption

SUBMITTER: Williamson CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7084142 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature