Abstract
Kongsfjorden–Krossfjorden twin fjord ecosystem in Svalbard (Arctic), is facing enhanced warm Atlantic water intrusion from ocean as well as intensified melting from glaciers. It is an interesting ecosystem to study phytoplankton productivity under the two opposing processes. For phytoplankton productivity, pigments are used as potential photosynthetic biomass indicators and taxonomic biomarkers. However, due to labile nature of pigments, degradation — preservation distribution must be investigated to form essential framework for biomarker studies. With this motivation, we have undertaken the present work to study the spatial distribution of surface sedimentary pigments in the twin-fjord ecosystem. The pigments were analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector. A total of fifteen pigments were identified, which belonged to different classes — chlorophylls, pheopigments and carotenoids. Chlorophyll-a and pheophorbide-a were major pigments with concentration up to 700–800 ng g−1 dry weight of sediment. Among carotenoids, fucoxanthin, diatoxanthin and prasinoxanthin were abundant with maximum concentration recorded up to 400–600 ng g−1 dry weight. The distribution of the pigments varied significantly between the two fjords as well as in different regions of the fjord. Most of the pigments were significantly high in their concentration at Krossfjorden stations. Within Kongsfjorden, outer region showed higher concentration of pigments than inner. However, preservation was lesser for the outer fjord pigments than inner as confirmed by various pigment indices. Further, the overall distribution of phytoplankton communities derived from taxonomic biomarker pigments in Kongsfjorden–Krossfjorden sediments, was coherent with that of water during spring and summer. The distribution was dominated by diatoms, dinoflagellates, prasinophytes and prymnesiophytes. The surface sedimentary pigments were found capable of providing information about phytoplankton biomass and composition under environmental conditions existing in the region.
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