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The Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), focus of this special publication, is a prolific hydrocarbon region and both exploration and production activity remains high to this day with a positive production outlook. A key element today and in the future is to couple technological developments to improving our understanding of specific geological situations. The theme of the publication reflects the immense efforts made by all industry operators and their academic partners on the NCS to understand in detail the structural setting, sedimentology and stratigraphy of the hydrocarbon bearing units and their source and seal. The papers cover a wide spectrum of depositional environments ranging from alluvial fans to deepwater fans, in almost every climate type from arid through humid to glacial, and in a variety of tectonic settings. Special attention is given to the integration of both analogue studies and process-based models with the insights gained from extensive subsurface datasets.

The North Atlantic is characterized by diatom-dominated spring blooms that results in significant transfer of carbon to higher trophic levels and the deep ocean. These blooms are terminated by limiting silicate concentrations in summer. Numerous regional studies have demonstrated phytoplankton community shifts to lightly-silicified diatoms and non-silicifying plankton at the onset of silicate limitation. However, to understand basin-scale patterns in ecosystem and climate dynamics, nutrient inventories must be examined over sufficient temporal and spatial scales. Here we show, from a new comprehensive compilation of data from the subpolar Atlantic Ocean, clear evidence of a marked pre-bloom silicate decline of 1.5–2 µM throughout the winter mixed layer during the last 25 years. This silicate decrease is primarily attributed to natural multi-decadal variability through decreased winter convection depths since the mid-1990s, a weakening and retraction of the subpolar gyre and an associated increased influence of nutrient-poor water of subtropical origin. Reduced Arctic silicate import and the projected hemispheric-scale climate change-induced weakening of vertical mixing may have acted to amplify the recent decline. These marked fluctuations in pre-bloom silicate inventories will likely have important consequences for the spatial and temporal extent of diatom blooms, thus impacting ecosystem productivity and ocean-atmosphere climate dynamics.

The skilful prediction of climatic conditions on a forecast horizon of months to decades into the future remains a main scientific challenge of large societal benefit. Here we assess the hindcast skill of the Norwegian Climate Prediction Model (NorCPM) for sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Arctic–Atlantic region focusing on the impact of different initialization methods. We find the skill to be distinctly larger for the Subpolar North Atlantic than for the Norwegian Sea, and generally for all lead years analyzed. For the Subpolar North Atlantic, there is furthermore consistent benefit in increasing the amount of data assimilated, and also in updating the sea ice based on SST with strongly coupled data assimilation. The predictive skill is furthermore significant for at least two model versions up to 8–10 lead years with the exception for SSS at the longer lead years. For the Norwegian Sea, significant predictive skill is more rare; there is relatively higher skill with respect to SSS than for SST. A systematic benefit from more complex data assimilation approach can not be identified for this region. Somewhat surprisingly, skill deteriorates quite consistently for both the Subpolar North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea when going from CMIP5 to corresponding CMIP6 versions. We find this to relate to change in the regional performance of the underlying physical model that dominates the benefit from initialization.

Extreme cold events (ECEs) on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) exert serious impacts on agriculture and animal husbandry and are important drivers of ecological and environmental changes. We investigate the temporal and spatial characteristics of the ECEs on the TP and the possible effects of Arctic sea ice. The daily observed minimum air temperature at 73 meteorological stations on the TP during 1980–2018 and the BCC_AGCM3_MR model are used. Our results show that the main mode of winter ECEs over the TP exhibits the same spatial variation and interannual variability across the whole region and is affected by two wave trains originating from the Arctic. The southern wave train is controlled by the sea ice in the Beaufort Sea. It initiates in the Norwegian Sea, and then passes through the North Atlantic Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal along the subtropical westerly jet stream. It enters the TP from the south and brings warm, humid air from the oceans. By contrast, the northern wave train is controlled by the sea ice in the Laptev Sea. It originates from the Barents and Kara seas, passes through Lake Baikal, and enters the TP from the north, bringing dry and cold air. A decrease in the sea ice in the Beaufort Sea causes positive potential height anomalies in the Arctic. This change enhances the pressure gradient between the Artic and the mid-latitudes, leading to westerly winds in the northern TP, which block the intrusion of cold air into the south. By contrast, a decrease in the sea ice in the Laptev Sea causes negative potential height anomalies in the Artic. This change reduces the pressure gradient between the Artic and the mid-latitudes, leading to easterly winds to the north of the TP, which favors the southward intrusion of cold polar air. A continuous decrease in the amount of sea ice in the Beaufort Sea would reduce the frequency of ECEs over the TP and further aggravate TP warming in winter.

Ascophyllum nodosum is a brown seaweed common in Arctic tidal waters. We have collected A. nodosum samples from the Barents Sea (BS), Irminger Sea (IS), and Norwegian Sea (NS) in different reproductive stages and have evaluated their biochemical composition, radical scavenging potential, and health risks. The total content of dominating carbohydrates (fucoidan, mannitol, alginate, and laminaran) ranged from 347 mg/g DW in NS to 528 mg/g DW in BS. The proportion of two main structural monosaccharides of fucoidan (fucose and xylose) differed significantly between the seas and reproductive phase, reaching a maximum at the fertile phase in the BS sample. Polyphenols and flavonoids totals were highest in NS A. nodosum samples and increased on average in the following order: BS < IS < NS. A positive correlation of free radical scavenging activity for seaweed extracts with polyphenols content was observed. The concentration of elements in A. nodosum from the Arctic seas region was in the following order: Ca > Mg > Sr > Fe > Al > Zn > As total > Rb > Mn > Ba > Cu > Co. Seaweeds from BS had the lowest metal pollution index (MPI) of 38.4. A. nodosum from IS had the highest MPI of 83. According to the calculated target hazard quotient (THQ) and hazard index (HI) values, Arctic A. nodosum samples pose no carcinogenic risk to adult and child health and are safe for regular consumption. Our results suggest that the Arctic A. nodosum has a remarkable potential for food and pharmaceutical industries as an underestimated source of polysaccharides, polyphenols, and flavonoids.

This study examines the structure of the Lofoten Anticyclone, located in the Lofoten Basin of the Norwegian Sea. The high-resolution ROMS model is used for hydrodynamic modeling of the Lofoten Basin circulation. The dynamics of the Lofoten Vortex are investigated using the Lagrangian methods, where trajectories of passive tracers advected by the model velocity field are calculated, and Lagrangian indicators are computed for the studied region. Lagrangian markers initially located both in the core and on the periphery of the Lofoten Vortex are considered, showing different behaviors. Lagrangian markers in the core move along closed trajectories with angular velocities depending on their distance from the eddy's center. Those initially on the periphery form a series of S-shaped folds and twists, entering and exiting the eddy. We refer to this process as “ventilation of the vortex periphery”. We demonstrated that particles leave the core and periphery of the eddy intermittently rather than uniformly over time, and the statistics of this process are analyzed. Additionally, it was found that the center of the Lofoten Vortex not only drifts cyclonically at an average speed of 3.8 cm/s but also oscillates in the horizontal plane, with the amplitude increasing in the eastern part of the Vortex’s movement area.

The copepod Calanus finmarchicus is the dominant species of mesozooplankton in the Norwegian Sea and an important food source for multiple commercially exploited pelagic fish stocks. In addition to the patchy distribution of species, the vast size of the Norwegian Sea makes synoptic zooplankton monitoring challenging. Monitoring includes relatively few sampling stations, and the number as well as the geographical location of these vary in time and space among years. In the present study, we explored the sampling patterns in 2 existing datasets: (1) for the period 1994-2004: size-fractionated zooplankton biomass, which allows for estimation of C. finmarchicus fractions, at irregularly spaced locations, and (2) for the period 1995-2017: non-size-fractionated zooplankton biomass data, gridded by objective analysis. We first assessed the C. finmarchicus data set by virtual sampling in C. finmarchicus spatial fields from the end-to-end ecosystem model NORWECOM.E2E. We found that non-consistent sampling patterns during the month of May caused the biomass estimate to be highly dependent on the chosen sampling strategy: sampling patterns from the first part of the period generally produced the highest biomass estimates. We then assessed the gridded zooplankton dataset by applying the 1995-2004 sampling patterns as well as a recent (2020) sampling pattern, which included regular and more numerous sampling locations, and found systematic differences. We conclude that the present May sampling pattern is much more robust and thereby also more likely to provide a good estimate of the interannual variability of the total biomass in the area. This study is an example of how models can be used to mechanistically interpret experimental datasets, and more specifically, how models can be used to assess sampling patterns and reveal their limitations.

Phytoplankton blooms provide biomass to the marine trophic web, contribute to the carbon removal from the atmosphere and can be deadly when associated with harmful species. This points to the need to understand the phenology of the blooms in the Barents, Norwegian, and North seas. We use satellite chlorophyll-a from 2000 to 2020 to assess robust climatological and the interannual trends of spring and summer blooms onset, peak day, duration and intensity. Further, we also correlate the interannual variability of the blooms with mixed layer depth (MLD), sea surface temperature (SST), wind speed and suspended particulate matter (SPM) retrieved from models and remote sensing. The climatological spring blooms start on March 10th and end on June 19th. The climatological summer blooms begin on July 13th and end on September 17th. In the Barents Sea, years of shallower mixed layer (ML) driven by both calm waters and higher freshwaters input keeps the phytoplankton in the euphotic zone, causing the spring bloom to start earlier and reach higher biomass but end sooner due to the lack of nutrients upwelling from the deep. In the Norwegian Sea, a correlation between SST and the spring blooms is found. Here, warmer waters are correlated to earlier and stronger blooms in most regions but with later and weaker blooms in the eastern Norwegian Sea. In the North Sea, years of shallower ML reduces the phytoplankton sinking below the euphotic zone and limits the SPM increase from the bed shear stress, creating an ideal environment of stratified and clear waters to develop stronger spring blooms. Last, the summer blooms onset, peak day and duration have been rapidly delaying at a rate of 1.25-day year–1, but with inconclusive causes based on the parameters assessed in this study.

In this study we aimed to analyze the biochemical composition and antiradical properties and estimate the human health risk of Fucus spiralis collected in the Norwegian Sea (NS), Irminger Sea (IS) and Barents Sea (BS). The accumulation of main carbohydrates (fucose and xylose) significantly varied in different seas and reproductive phases and was maximal in samples from the BS in the fertility phase. The accumulation of the sum of polyphenols and flavonoids was in the following ranking order: IS < BS < NS. The polyphenols and flavonoids were decreased in the fertile phase. The antiradical power strongly correlated with polyphenols and flavonoid content and was increased in seaweeds in the sterile phase. The Metal Pollution Index (MPI) varied widely from 42 in F. spiralis from NS to 128–230 in seaweeds from IS. A gradient of MPI values was observed across the sea in the following ranking order: NS ≤ BS < < IS. Our data about metal concentrations in F. spiralis suggests that the seawater in the Arctic Region (NS, IS and BS) could be classified as “Unpolluted” for all metals. All studied arctic F. spiralis seaweeds posed no health risk by toxic elements and are safe for daily consumption. Our results whiteness the potential of arctic F. spiralis as a rich source of polysaccharides, polyphenols, and flavonoids with significant antiradical activity and as a promising species with no human health risk for the utilization in medicine and functional food.

Sustainable fisheries management is important for the continued harvest of the world's marine resources, especially as they are increasingly challenged by a range of climatic and anthropogenic factors. One of the pillars of sustainable fisheries management is the accurate identification of the biological units, i.e., populations. Here, we developed and implemented a genetic baseline for Atlantic herring harvested in the Norwegian offshore fisheries to investigate the validity of the current management boundaries. This was achieved by genotyping > 15,000 herring from the northern European seas, including samples of all the known populations in the region, with a panel of population-informative SNPs mined from existing genomic resources. The final genetic baseline consisted of ~1000 herring from 12 genetically distinct populations. We thereafter used the baseline to investigate mixed catches from the North and Norwegian Seas, revealing that each management area consisted of multiple populations, as previously suspected. However, substantial numbers (up to 50% or more within a sample) of herring were found outside of their expected management areas, e.g., North Sea autumn-spawning herring north of 62° N (average = 19.2%), Norwegian spring-spawning herring south of 62° N (average = 13.5%), and western Baltic spring-spawning herring outside their assumed distribution area in the North Sea (average = 20.0%). Based upon these extensive observations, we conclude that the assessment and management areas currently in place for herring in this region need adjustments to reflect the populations present. Furthermore, we suggest that for migratory species, such as herring, a paradigm shift from using static geographic stock boundaries towards spatial dynamic boundaries is needed to meet the requirements of future sustainable management regimes.