Emme
Kerj
"Beneath
Arctic Ice, Life Blooms Spectacularly." : Oceanus Magazine. N.p., 7
June 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
Life is blooming under the Arctic ice
Phytoplanktons
are microscopic organisms that use the photosynthesis. They cannot be seen with
the naked eye unless they are gathered in a large number, which makes them look
like a green blanket over the water. Because they obtain their energy from the
photosynthesis, they must live in bright-lit areas, such as the water surface
of a lake or sea. Phytoplanktons have before been thought to not be able to
survive under ice until a team of scientists made a recent discovery. The team
of scientists observed that the water beneath the ice contained high levels of
chlorophyll that is rarely observed even in the most productive oceans
(article). Chlorophyll, being crucial for photosynthetic plants, was not
expected to be found in large amounts under the ice. The results that the team
of scientists got was that the amount of phytoplankton produced under ice was
four times larger than the amount in ice-free waters (article). The ice has
worked as a magnifying glass for the sunlight, enabling the light to penetrate
the thick ice layer. Emily Brownlee, a graduate student on board of the
oceanographic research cruise observed that the phytoplankton was growing twice
as fast under ice than on the surface of open oceans (article). Bob Pickart,
WHOI physical oceanographer, explained that easterly winds churned out by
wonder storm systems along the Aleutian Islands could reverse the current along
the shelf break. The change is circulation drives cold, nutrient-rich water up
from the abyss and refreshed the supply of nutrients available to phytoplankton
growing near the surface (article).
The
discoveries made by these scientists prove that there has been a slight climate
change along the Arctic Circle. Earlier studies had shown that the levels of
chlorophyll, which phytoplankton contain, was minimal in water under ice. Not
only was the amount of phytoplankton different but their examination of the
bloom also showed that it was not caused by fallout from algae growing on the
ice, but rather it contained different organisms that seized the confluence of
currents, light, and nutrients (article). The nutrients in the Arctic waters
have changed or been added to, which could change the whole ecosystem living in
those waters.
Overall
the article explained the discovery very well and compared it to earlier
studies. It made the change in phytoplankton bloom clear to the reader. I would
have liked more background information about phytoplankton and chlorophyll in
the article because it would have made some of the topics clearer. It made a
clear point that there had been a large change in bloom but not why it was
relevant to science.
I thought your summary was really good; you defined and explained every part of it, and I learned a lot from what you wrote. You did a great job with the background information, and didn't over do it with facts. Before, I did not know much about phytoplanktons; you explained what they are, what they look like and what conditions they need to survive. I didn't realize that phytoplanktons can only live in brightly lit places; I thought they just floated around in the ocean, so, I learned something new. You also talked about what these discoveries mean to science and how significant it is to the whole ecosystem. I would have liked to learn more about its significance to the environment, but like you said, there was no thorough explanation in the article. I liked how you added the names of people who were in the article, Emily Brownlee and Bob Pickart, and what they did or observed to contribute to research. You also did a good job explaining how high amounts of chlorophyll occur under the ice, because the ice acts like a magnifying glass.
ReplyDeleteOver all, I think you did a great job explaining everything without going over board with writing. I got the general idea of the article, understood its relevance, and what the article lacked or needed to improve on with out having to read too much.
You picked a really interesting article. I thought you explained everything really well, and this was very informative. I am not particularly informed on environmental discoveries, so I was not familiar with phytoplanktons. But, you did a really good job explaining what they were and their needs. I never knew chlorophyll could exist under ice, because it seems so concealing. But you made the point that the ice magnifies the sun, allowing chlorophyll to exist under the ice and the phytoplanktons to survive. You also stated that even in the most productive oceans, there was a lot more chlorophyll in the arctic. And 4 times as mucha ice-free waters. This puzzled me because I never knew what was happening under the ice. But, I think your relevance paragraph could have had more to it. I did not see a huge connection to human life. Other than that this was very descriptive and well written. This was very informative, great job!
ReplyDeleteEmme I think that you did a great job on your reveiw. You summarized the article really well which made it helpful to understand. I thought that your review was very intersting and was very well explained and everything was defined. I also thought that your article really gave some connect and relevance which must have been harder to do with this article. It was very intersting to learn that chlorohyll could grow under the ice. It was also to intersting to find out that not only it grows under the ice but it grows more rapidly under the ice. It was also impressive to find out that phytoplanktons can only live in brightly lit places. Overall great article I thought your article was great and did not need any major corrections.
ReplyDeleteI think that Emme did a very good job at reviewing this article, it is very informative and interesting. This review is very to the point, but provides enough details for it to be thorough and understandable. It included plenty of details about what phytoplankton are and why their survival under ice was unexpected. I also thought that she her critique was thoughtful, and that a need for more background information makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of phytoplankton before and found it very interesting that they are more abundant in a place that we thought they couldn’t exist. I also learned that chlorophyll could be present in the ocean, even though the ocean can be harsh on many substances because of its high concentration of salt.
One thing that Emme could have done better is to more specifically address why this is relevant to humans, she said that “The discoveries made by theses scientist prove that there has been a slight climate change along the Arctic Circle,” but she never says how this will affect us. Overall this article was very interesting and I learned a lot about marine biology that I never knew before.
The summary is informative and provides background information on what phytoplanktons are and why this discovery is significant. All the paragraphs are well connected and there are no abrupt transitions. The perspectives and findings of the people involved in the experiment allow the article to be more concise and sophisticated. I found it remarkable that something as microscopic as phytoplankton can have an impact on the ecosystem and I found it interesting how photosynthesis can vary between plants and how the phytoplanktons have to utilize the ice to magnify the sunlight. I did not know that chlorophyll was not present in oceans, making the fact that chlorophyll was present under the ice a revolutionary discovery. Furthermore, I wish you talked more about how phytoplankton not being in the ecosystem could vary or rupture the dynamic and how it can influence humans.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this report was very informative. You did a good job of summarizing the article. The way that you explained phytoplanktons was very clear and concise. I found your explanation of the scientific concept very easy to comprehend.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that I would tweak in this report is to further explain how this discovery affects human beings and society. What does this discovery say about climate change that we as human beings would be affected by? Otherwise I think you did a great job. I found that this was a very interesting read.
Emme-
ReplyDeleteGreat job explaining this article. I would have never guessed that Phytoplankton could survive under ice. It was a very informative summary, and all key terms and people were defined in a nice manner. Nothing was confusing about your summary and I could clearly understand what your were talking about. Nice analysis of what could happen going into the future, and good constructive criticism of the author of the article. I learned that high levels of chlorophyll were found under the ice and I am curious as to how that is possible. You did a great job, and I only have one remark: when you have an acronym, be sure to define it, because I am not sure what WHOI is. Other than that, nice job!