High resolution study of the platelet ice ecosystem in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica:biomass, nutrient, and production profiles within a dense microalgal bloom

Abstract

ABSTRACT-Vertical distributions of inorganic nutrients (nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, phosphate, and silicic acid) and microalgal and bacterial biomass were monitored within both the lower congelation ice and the platelet ice layer in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica from 31 October to 3 December 1989. Profiles of dissolved organic matter (DOM) (amino acids and simple sugars) and heterotrophic protists were also obtained in early December. Microalgal standing crop increased from 9.4 to 37.4 g C m-' during our 34 d study (peak accumulation rate of > l g C m-2 d-'), and maximum pigment concentrations exceeded 6500 mg chl a m-3 near the congelation ice/platelet ice interface. Estimates of seawater exchange within the platelet ice ranged from 0.06 to 0.61 m2 d-' when Si(OH), was used as a tracer. The biochemical composition of the autotrophic community and the presence of high nutrient concentrations within the platelet layer indicated that the growth of platelet ice algae was limited by l~ght, rather than nutrients, throughout the season. NO3 and Si(OH), concentrations in the platelet ice were generally high (30 to 32 and 65 to 82 mm01 m-3, respectively), but became depleted in the uppermost layers as chl a peaked late in November. NH, was far more abundant in the platelet ice (5 to 10 mm01 m-3) than in the underlying water column (0.5 mm01 m-3) throughout the field season. Microbial regeneration was primarily responsible for the high background concentrations of NH, in the platelet ice, although physical processes also may have contributed. A large NH4 pulse (>l50 mm01 m-3) was observed in the platelet layer in early November, possibly attributable to an isolated macrozooplankton grazing and excretion event. PO, concentrations (2.0 mm01 m-3 in the water column) were minimal ( < l . ? mm01 m-3) in the upper platelet ice on November 11, but began to increase thereafter due to PO, regeneration. By early December, concentrations reached their maximum of 3.73 mm01Rates of POq regeneration were highest (peak of 35 mm01 m-3 d-') in the upper layers of the platelet ice where the bulk of the microbial biomass was located. The platelet ice was unusual because, although concentrations of regenerated nutrients were often high, the elemental composition of particulates remained near the Redfield ratios and detrital abundance was low. The coincidence of NO2 and NO, peaks at a depth of 0.65 to 0.75 m suggests that bacterial nitrification may also occur in the platelet ice.

Enrichment of nutrients, exopolymeric substances and microorganisms in newly formed sea ice on the Mackenzie shelf

“…However, nutrient enrichment in newly formed sea ice is not expected to result from physical incorporation processes, but rather from in situ nutrient regeneration (Gradinger & Ikävalko 1998). Heterotrophic nutrient regeneration by micro-or nano-sized protists and bacteria (Glibert 1993) can result in high nitrogen concentrations within the sea ice (Harrison et al 1990, Arrigo et al 1995, Conover et al 1999.…”

Primary production in the upper sea ice

“…Phytoflagellates are often dominant in the upper sea ice and diatoms in sea ice infiltrated by seawater, particularly at the base of the sea ice (Hsiao 1980, Palmisano & Sullivan 1983, McConville & Wetherbee 1983, Garrison & Buck 1989, Arrigo et al 1995, Archer et al 1996, Ikavalko & Gradinger 1997, Buck et al 1998, Stoecker et al 1998). Phytoflagellate dominance is particularly common early in the growing season when temperatures are well below -2°C and brines are hypersaline.…”

Strategies for the Simulation of Sea Ice Organic Chemistry: Arctic Tests and Development

“…We assume that bacteria act upon the organic reservoir in a unimolecular fashion. For example, Arrigo et al discuss exponential vertical protein profiles [92], while Amon and coworkers provide data consistent with a one month oxidative time scale in Arctic ice samples [15].…”

“…Amino acids have been observed streaming rapidly from land-fast bottom ice, and at high concentration [92]. Protein-carbohydrate combinations are well known inside marine algal cells [26] and are implicated in the most recent studies of ice salinity alteration [8].…”

“…In the Southern Ocean exudates are known to function as siderophores and also as ligands [98][99]. For present purposes, we fix macromolecular fractions at planetary average values for the biosynthesis of marine proteins, polysaccharides and lipids [26][27][28]80], but the background is supplemented through a set of light modulated exudation terms [7,44,92]. The aim is to reproduce and extend results from those field studies resolving ice organic material into its chemical constituency [6,15,60,91].…”