Phytoplankton and water masses in the European subarctic Polar Front zone

Phytoplankton and hydrological data were collected during the Greenland Sea Project between 74o and 76oN, 13o and 20oE, in July 1988 and 1991. The water masses were very different with regard to their hydrology in the two years, especially with regard to the displacement of the frontal zone. The phytoplankton community was similar in both years, however. Multivariate analyses have not shown any significant relationship between phytoplankton abundance, salinity, nutrients and temperature. It was assumed that the water mass as a single, comprehensive system influences phytoplankton occurrence, and its origin determines the phytoplankton recorded in the frontal zone.