MASS MACROCOLONIES MELOSIRA ARCTICA FORMING ON THE SURFACE OF ICE IN THE NORTH POLE AREA
Abstract
In early August 2019, in the area of the North Pole, a massive development of ice flora communities on the surface of perennial ice was observed. Macroaggregates of fibers with a thickness of 0.5–0.8 cm, compactly intertwined and forming “brain-like” structures up to 10-15 cm in size, had a pale pink color and covered the bottom of freshwater puddles with extensive fields. The aggregates were formed by diatom taxocenes based on the colonies of Melosira arctica, their polymer matrix, as well as another 35 taxa of marine and brackishmarine diatoms, some of which also performed structure-forming functions. With high probability, the development of aggregates occurred at the thawing points of the tops of the pore channels in the ice, through which the spongy plexuses of the algocenoses were fed with salt water. The phenomenon of formation and mass development of such macrostructures is described for the first time.
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