Extreme Low Light Requirement for Algae Growth Underneath Sea Ice: A Case Study from Station Nord, NE Greenland

Microalgae colonizing the underside of sea ice in spring are a key component of the Arctic foodweb as they drive early primary production and transport of carbon from the atmosphere to the ocean interior. Onset of the spring bloom of ice algae is typically limited by the availability of light, and the current consensus is that a few tens‐of‐centimeters of snow is enough to prevent sufficient solar radiation to reach underneath the sea ice. We challenge this consensus, and investigated the onset and the light requirement of an ice algae spring bloom, and the importance of snow optical properties for light penetration. Colonization by ice algae began in May under >1 m of first‐year sea ice with ∼1 m thick snow cover on top, in NE Greenland. The initial growth of ice algae began at extremely low irradiance (