Diapycnal mixing across the photic zone of the NE Atlantic

Variable physical conditions such as vertical turbulent exchange, internal wave, and mesoscale eddy action affect the availability of light and nutrients for phytoplankton (unicellular algae) growth. It is hypothesized that changes in ocean temperature may affect ocean vertical density stratification, which may hamper vertical exchange. In order to quantify variations in physical conditions in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, we sampled a latitudinal transect along 17 ± 5∘ W between 30 and 63∘ N in summer. A shipborne conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) instrumented package was used with a custom-made modification of the pump inlet to minimize detrimental effects of ship motions on its data. Thorpe-scale analysis was used to establish turbulence values for the upper 500 m from three to six profiles obtained in a short CTD yo-yo, 3 to 5 h after local sunrise. From south to north, average temperature decreased together with stratification while turbulence values weakly increased or remained constant. Vertical turbulent nutrient fluxes did not vary significantly with stratification and latitude. This apparent lack of correspondence between turbulent mixing and temperature is likely due to internal waves breaking (increased stratification can support more internal waves), acting as a potential feedback mechanism. As this feedback mechanism mediates potential physical environment changes in temperature, global surface ocean warming may not affect the vertical nutrient fluxes to a large degree. We urge modellers to test this deduction as it could imply that the future summer phytoplankton productivity in stratified oligotrophic waters would experience little alterations in nutrient input from deeper waters

Fe-binding organic ligands in coastal and frontal regions of the western Antarctic Peninsula

Organic ligands are a key factor determining the availability of dissolved iron (DFe) in the high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) areas of the Southern Ocean. In this study, organic speciation of Fe is investigated along a natural gradient of the western Antarctic Peninsula, from an ice-covered shelf to the open ocean. An electrochemical approach, competitive ligand exchange – adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (CLE-AdCSV), was applied. Our results indicated that organic ligands in the surface water on the shelf are associated with ice-algal exudates, possibly combined with melting of sea ice. Organic ligands in the deeper shelf water are supplied via the resuspension of slope or shelf sediments. Further offshore, organic ligands are most likely related to the development of phytoplankton blooms in open ocean waters. On the shelf, total ligand concentrations ([Lt]) were between 1.2 and 6.4 nM eq. Fe. The organic ligands offshore ranged between 1.0 and 3.0 nM eq. Fe. The southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (SB ACC) separated the organic ligands on the shelf from bloom-associated ligands offshore. Overall, organic ligand concentrations always exceeded DFe concentrations (excess ligand concentration, [L′] = 0.8–5.0 nM eq. Fe). The [L′] made up to 80 % of [Lt], suggesting that any additional Fe input can be stabilized in the dissolved form via organic complexation. The denser modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) on the shelf showed the highest complexation capacity of Fe (αFe'L; the product of [L′] and conditional binding strength of ligands, KFe'Lcond). Since Fe is also supplied by shelf sediments and glacial discharge, the high complexation capacity over the shelf can keep Fe dissolved and available for local primary productivity later in the season upon sea-ice melting.</p

Southern Ocean control of silicon stable isotope distribution in the deep Atlantic Ocean

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Geochemical Cycles 26 (2012): GB2035, doi:10.1029/2011GB004141.The fractionation of silicon (Si) stable isotopes by biological activity in the surface ocean makes the stable isotope composition of silicon (δ30Si) dissolved in seawater a sensitive tracer of the oceanic biogeochemical Si cycle. We present a high-precision dataset that characterizes the δ30Si distribution in the deep Atlantic Ocean from Denmark Strait to Drake Passage, documenting strong meridional and smaller, but resolvable, vertical δ30Si gradients. We show that these gradients are related to the two sources of deep and bottom waters in the Atlantic Ocean: waters of North Atlantic and Nordic origin carry a high δ30Si signature of ≥+1.7‰ into the deep Atlantic, while Antarctic Bottom Water transports Si with a low δ30Si value of around +1.2‰. The deep Atlantic δ30Si distribution is thus governed by the quasi-conservative mixing of Si from these two isotopically distinct sources. This disparity in Si isotope composition between the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean is in marked contrast to the homogeneity of the stable nitrogen isotope composition of deep ocean nitrate (δ15N-NO3). We infer that the meridional δ30Si gradient derives from the transport of the high δ30Si signature of Southern Ocean intermediate/mode waters into the North Atlantic by the upper return path of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The basin-scale deep Atlantic δ30Si gradient thus owes its existence to the interaction of the physical circulation with biological nutrient uptake at high southern latitudes, which fractionates Si isotopes between the abyssal and intermediate/mode waters formed in the Southern Ocean.This work was supported by Swiss National Science Foundation grants 200021-116473 and 200020-130361.2012-12-1

Mercury in the Black Sea:New Insights From Measurements and Numerical Modeling

Redox conditions and organic matter control marine methylmercury (MeHg) production. The Black Sea is the world's largest and deepest anoxic basin and is thus ideal to study Hg species along the extended redox gradient. Here we present new dissolved Hg and MeHg data from the 2013 GEOTRACES MEDBlack cruise (GN04_leg2) that we integrated into a numerical 1-D model, to track the fate and dynamics of Hg and MeHg. Contrary to a previous study, our new data show highest MeHg concentrations in the permanently anoxic waters. Observed MeHg/Hg percentage (range 9-57%) in the anoxic waters is comparable to other subsurface maxima in oxic open-ocean waters. With the modeling we tested for various Hg methylation and demethylation scenarios along the redox gradient. The results show that Hg methylation must occur in the anoxic waters. The model was then used to simulate the time evolution (1850-2050) of Hg species in the Black Sea. Our findings quantify (1) inputs and outputs of Hg-T (similar to 31 and similar to 28 kmol yr(-1)) and MeHgT (similar to 5 and similar to 4 kmol yr(-1)) to the basin, (2) the extent of net demethylation occurring in oxic (similar to 1 kmol yr(-1)) and suboxic water (similar to 6 kmol yr(-1)), (3) and the net Hg methylation in the anoxic waters of the Black Sea (similar to 11 kmol yr(-1)). The model was also used to estimate the amount of anthropogenic Hg (85-93%) in the Black Sea

Estimating the Benthic Efflux of Dissolved Iron on the Ross Sea Continental Shelf

Continental margin sediments provide a potentially large but poorly constrained source of dissolved iron (dFe) to the upper ocean. The Ross Sea continental shelf is one region where this benthic supply is thought to play a key role in regulating the magnitude of seasonal primary production. Here we present data collected during austral summer 2012 that reveal contrasting low surface (0.08 +/- 0.07 nM) and elevated near-seafloor (0.74 +/- 0.47 nM) dFe concentrations. Combining these observations with results from a high-resolution physical circulation model, we estimate dFe efflux of 5.8 x 10(7) mol yr(-1) from the deeper portions (\u3e400m) of the Ross Sea continental shelf; more than sufficient to account for the inferred winter reserve dFe inventory at the onset of the growing season. In addition, elevated dFe concentrations observed over shallower bathymetry suggest that such features provide additional inputs of dFe to the euphotic zone throughout the year

Dissolved Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn in the Arctic Ocean

During the Polarstern (PS94) expedition, summer 2015, part of the international GEOTRACES program, sources and sinks of dissolved (D) Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn were studied in the central Arctic Ocean. In the Polar Surface Water in which the TransPolar Drift (TPD) is situated, salinity and δ18O derived fractions indicated a distinct riverine source for silicate DCo, DCu, DFe, DMn and DNi. Linear relationships between DMn and the meteoric fraction depended on source distance, likely due to Mn-precipitation during transport. In the upper 50 m of the Makarov Basin, outside the TPD core, DCo, DMn, DNi, DCd and DCu were enriched by Pacific waters, whereas DFe seemed diluted. DCo, DFe, DMn and DZn were relatively high in the Barents Sea and led to enrichment of Atlantic water flowing into the Nansen Basin. Deep concentrations of all metals were significantly lower in the Makarov Basin compared to the Nansen and Amundsen, the Eurasian, Basins. The Gakkel ridge hydrothermal input and higher continental slope convection are explanations for higher metal concentrations in the Eurasian Basins. Although scavenging rates are lower in the Makarov Basin compared to the Eurasian Basins, the residence time is longer and therefore scavenging can decrease the dissolved concentrations with time. This study provides a baseline to assess future change, and additionally identifies processes driving trace metal distributions. Our results underline the importance of fluvial input as well as shelf sources and internal cycling, notably scavenging, for the distribution of bio-active metals in the Arctic Ocean

Climatically sensitive transfer of iron to maritime Antarctic ecosystems by surface runoff

Iron supplied by glacial weathering results in pronounced hotspots of biological production in an otherwise iron-limited Southern Ocean Ecosystem. However, glacial iron inputs are thought to be dominated by icebergs. Here we show that surface runoff from three island groups of the maritime Antarctic exports more filterable (<0.45 μm) iron (6–81 kg km−2 a−1) than icebergs (0.0–1.2 kg km−2 a−1). Glacier-fed streams also export more acid-soluble iron (27.0–18,500 kg km−2 a−1) associated with suspended sediment than icebergs (0–241 kg km−2 a−1). Significant fluxes of filterable and sediment-derived iron (1–10 Gg a−1 and 100–1,000 Gg a−1, respectively) are therefore likely to be delivered by runoff from the Antarctic continent. Although estuarine removal processes will greatly reduce their availability to coastal ecosystems, our results clearly indicate that riverine iron fluxes need to be accounted for as the volume of Antarctic melt increases in response to 21st century climate change

Internal Wave Turbulence Near a Texel Beach

A summer bather entering a calm sea from the beach may sense alternating warm and cold water. This can be felt when moving forward into the sea (‘vertically homogeneous’ and ‘horizontally different’), but also when standing still between one’s feet and body (‘vertically different’). On a calm summer-day, an array of high-precision sensors has measured fast temperature-changes up to 1°C near a Texel-island (NL) beach. The measurements show that sensed variations are in fact internal waves, fronts and turbulence, supported in part by vertical stable stratification in density (temperature). Such motions are common in the deep ocean, but generally not in shallow seas where turbulent mixing is expected strong enough to homogenize. The internal beach-waves have amplitudes ten-times larger than those of the small surface wind waves. Quantifying their turbulent mixing gives diffusivity estimates of 10−4–10−3 m2 s−1, which are larger than found in open-ocean but smaller than wave breaking above deep sloping topography

Tracking Changes in Bioavailable Fe Within High-Nitrate Low-Chlorophyll Oceanic Waters: A First Estimate Using a Heterotrophic Bacterial Bioreporter

It is conventional knowledge that heterotrophic bacteria play a key role in the biogeochemical cycling of oceanic carbon. However, only recently has their role in marine iron ( Fe) biogeochemical cycles been examined. Research during this past decade has demonstrated an inextricable link between Fe chemistry and the biota, as \u3e99% of Fe in marine systems is complexed to organic chelates of unknown but obviously biotic origin. Here we present a novel approach to assess and compare Fe bioavailability in low Fe HNLC waters using a bioluminescent bacterial reporter that quantitatively responds to the concentration of bioavailable Fe by producing light. Originally tested in freshwater environments, this study presents the first characterization of this halotolerant reporter organism in a defined seawater medium and then subsequently in marine surface waters. Laboratory characterizations demonstrate that this reporter displays a dose-dependent response to Fe availability in our defined marine medium. Field tests were performed during the 10-day mesoscale FeCycle experiment ( February 2003) in the Pacific sub-Antarctic high-nitrate low-chlorophyll region. Data from both biogeochemical measures and bioreporter assays are provided which describe how the bioreporter detected changes in Fe bioavailability that occurred during a natural shift in ambient dissolved Fe concentrations (similar to 40 pM). Our data explore the use of heterotrophic bioluminescent reporters as a comparable tool for marine ecosystems and demonstrate the potential utility of this tool in elucidating the relationship between Fe bioavailability and Fe chemistry in complex marine systems

Electrochemical methods for speciation of trace elements in marine waters. Dynamic aspects

The contribution of electrochemical methods to the knowledge of dynamic speciation of toxic trace elements in marine waters is critically reviewed. Due to the importance of dynamic considerations in the interpretation of the electrochemical signal, the principles and recent developments of kinetic features in the interconversion of metal complex species will be presented. As dynamic electrochemical methods, only stripping techniques (anodic stripping voltammetry and stripping chronopotentiometry) will be used because they are the most important for the determination of trace elements. Competitive ligand ex- change-adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry, which should be considered an equilibrium technique rather than a dynamic method, will be also discussed because the complexing parameters may be affected by some kinetic limitations if equilibrium before analysis is not attained and/or the flux of the adsorbed complex is in fluenced by the lability of the natural complexes in the water sample. For a correct data interpretation and system characterization the comparison of results obtained from different techniques seems essential in the articulation of a serious discussion of their meaning