Open AccessThe effect of biological activity, CaCO 3 mineral dynamics, and CO 2 degassing in the inorganic carbon cycle in sea ice in late winter‐early spring in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica
Author(s) -
Papadimitriou S.,
Kennedy H.,
Norman L.,
Kennedy D. P.,
Dieckmann G. S.,
Thomas D. N.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2012jc008058
Subject(s) - dissolved organic carbon , seawater , total inorganic carbon , salinity , sea ice , carbon cycle , alkalinity , nitrate , oceanography , carbon dioxide , precipitation , carbon fibers , environmental chemistry , environmental science , geology , chemistry , ecology , ecosystem , organic chemistry , biology , physics , materials science , meteorology , composite number , composite material
A large‐scale geographical study of the ice pack in the seasonal ice zone of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, took place from September to October 2006. Sea ice brines with a salinity greater than 58 and temperature lower than −3.6°C were sampled from 22 ice stations. The brines had large deficits in total alkalinity and in the concentrations of the major dissolved macronutrients (total dissolved inorganic carbon, nitrate, and soluble reactive phosphorus) relative to their concentrations in the surface oceanic water and conservative behavior during seawater freezing. The concentration deficits were related to the dissolved inorganic carbon‐consuming processes of photosynthesis, CaCO 3 precipitation, and CO 2 degassing. The largest concentration deficits in total dissolved inorganic carbon were found to be associated with CaCO 3 precipitation and CO 2 degassing, because the magnitude of the photosynthesis‐induced concentration deficit in total dissolved inorganic carbon is controlled by the size of the inorganic nutrient pool, which can be limited in sea ice by its openness to exchange with the surrounding oceanic water.