Rapid Response Research: Accessing New Sea Ice in an Arctic Winter Polynya

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Recent years have seen the loss of massive amounts of multi-year sea ice from the Arctic Ocean and its replacement by first year sea ice. As first year ice freezes, a crystalline structure known as frost flowers forms on its surface. Frost flowers are delicate structures, high in brine content, and susceptible to wind-driven dispersion unless rapidly buried by snow. Funds are provided to contribute to a test of the hypothesis that frost flowers are a suitable habitat for microbes and viruses, advecting them upward with brine and concentrating them in the frost flowers as these form. Previous research has included laboratory studies of frost flower formation and isolated field sampling of these structures. This effort will allow the principal investigator access to a polynya for a period of time sufficient to sample and study the temporal evolution of frost flowers and their associated microbial communities.This award will bring microbial expertise and a US presence to an international collaboration in Greenland. Results of this project will be incorporated immediately into a college course on Arctic Change. While in Greenland, the international team will engage in outreach to local communities. The results of this research will shed light on potential mechanisms for the air-sea exchange and subsequent aeolian transport of microbes and viruses.