Subarctic coastal oceanography

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The variability of Arctic sea ice and predictions of its reduction have motivated in the last decade large research programs of ice-covered marine ecosystems in the Canadian Arctic and related seas. In comparison, Canadian ice-covered marine ecosystems unconnected to the Arctic, such as the Gulf of St. Lawrence and eastern Canadian fjords, have received little research attention despite that these subarctic systems are subject to comparable interannual and climatic sea ice variabilities. Many questions motivating oceanographic research in the Canadian Arctic could also be addressed through research in subarctic ice-covered environments. For example, the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence as well as the Saguenay Fjord share many characteristics with coastal Arctic marine ecosystems: they are seasonally ice-covered, they receive important amount of freshwater from rivers, they host polynias (i.e. regions of open water even at the heart of winter), they host a rich and diverse ecosystem and they play important economic and social roles for Canadians and local communities (e.g. fishing, potential for oil and gas exploration, tourisms, etc.)