Abstract
Fluxes of particles, biogenic silica and organic carbon through the water column were obtained at three sites in the northwestern Ross Sea using 238U/234Th disequilibrium, drifting traps, and moored sediment traps. Burial rates of biogenic components were calculated by determining sediment mass accumulation rates, while inferences on the past evolution of the system were obtained through the record stored in sediments. Particle flux was characterized by a high seasonality and was strictly dependent on the ice coverage. Furthermore, the data suggested a high interannual variability and a rapid sinking of particles, which implies a minimal degradation of the material, mainly aggregates and faecal pellets, below the euphotic zone. High fluxes, measured occasionally, were linked to particular post-bloom conditions or to the presence of marginal ice. Time lags between production and trap collection can be explained by post-bloom mechanisms. Sediments at mooring sites, A B and C showed different lithologies, with C representing conditions of no present sediment accumulation. Composition, density and structure of benthic communities also differed significantly, mostly as a function of water depth. Fluxes from the water column at both mooring sites, A and B, did not account for sediment accumulation and burial rates of the biogenic components, hence lateral advection must have provided important contributions. Depth profiles of magnetic susceptibility and biogenic components in cores showed a dramatic change corresponding to the onset of present seasonally open marine sedimentation. Present-day fluxes of biogenic silica and organic carbon were higher in the Joides basin than in the Drygalski basin and other areas of the northwestern Ross Sea. The results of various research approaches are discussed in the framework of the present knowledge of processes in the Ross Sea, and views on the perspectives of the research are suggested.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Anderson JB, Kurtz DD, Weaver FM (1979) Sedimentation on the Antarctic continental slope. SEPM Spec Publ 27: 265–283
Anderson JB, Brake CF, Myers NC (1984) Sedimentation on the Ross Sea continental shelf, Antarctica. Mar Geol 57: 295–333
Anderson JB, Kennedy DS, Smith MJ, Domack EW (1991) Sedimentary facies associated with Antarctica’s floating ice masses. Geol Soc Am Spec Paper 261: 1–25
Baroni C, Orombelli G (1994) The retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet from the Ross Sea continental shelf and the Holocene diffusion of the Adélie penguins in Victoria Land. Terra Antarct 1: 151–152
Bianchi C (1997) Flussi di particelle e processi biogeochimici in un’area interessata dall’arretramento stagionale del margine di ghiaccio (Mare di Ross Settentrionale). Thesis, University of Bologna, 105 pp
Brambati A, Fanzutti GP, Finocchiaro F, Melis R, Frignani M, Ravaioli M, Setti M (1997) Paleoenvironmental record in core ANTA91–30 (Drygalski Basin, Ross Sea, Antarctica). Antarct Res Series 71: 137–151
Buesseler KO, Cochran JK, Bacon MB, Livingston HD, Casso SA, Hirschberg D, Hartman MC, Fleer AP (1992) Determination of thorium isotopes in sea water by nondestructive and radiochemical procedures. Deep Sea Res 39: 1103–1114
Ceccaroni LM, Frank M, Frignani M, Langone L, Ravaioli M, Mangini A (1998) Late Quaternary fluctuations of biogenic component flux on the continental slope of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. J Mar Syst 17: 515–525
Coale KH, Bruland KW (1985) 234 Th/238U disequilibria withinthe California current. Limnol Oceanogr 30: 22–33
Comiso JC, McClain CR, Sullivan CW, Ryan JP, Leonard C (1993) Coastal zone color scanner pigment concentrations in the Southern Ocean and relationship to geophysical surface features. J Geophys Res 98: 2419–2451
Cooper AK, Davey FJ (1987) The Antarctic continental margin: geology and geophysics of the Western Ross Sea. CPCEMR Earth Sci Ser 5B: 1–15
DeMaster DJ (1981) The supply and accumulation of silica in the marine environment. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 45: 1715–1732
DeMaster DJ, Dunbar RB, Gordon LI, Leventer AR, Morrison JM, Nelson DM, Nittrouer CA, Smith WO (1992) Cycling and accumulation of biogenic silica and organic matter in high latitude environments: the Ross Sea. Oceanography 5: 146–153
DeMaster DJ, Ragueneau O, Nittouer CA (1996) Preservation efficiencies and accumulation rates for biogenic silica and organic C, N, and P in high-latitude sediments: the Ross Sea. J Geophys Res 101: 18501–18518
Dunbar RB, Anderson JB, Domack EW (1985) Oceanographic influences on sedimentation along the continental shelf. Antarct Res Ser 43: 291–312
Dunbar RB, Mucciarone DA, Leventer AR (1991) Sediment trap experiments in the central and western Ross Sea, January and February 1990. Antarctic J US 26: 115–117
Frank M, Eckhardt JD, Eisenhauer A, Kubik PW, Dittrich-Hannen B, Mangini A (1994) 10Be, 230Th and 231Pa in Galapagos microplate sediment: implications for hydrothermal activity and paleoproductivity changes during the last 100 000 years. Paleoceanography 9: 559–578
Frignani M, Langone L, Ragaglia L, Ravaioli M (1992) Organic matter and biogenic silica in bottom sediments of the western Ross Sea (Antarctica). In: Albertelli G, Ambrosetti W, Piccazzo M, Ruffani Riva T (eds) Atti IX Congr Ass Ital Oceanogr Limnol. Lang, Genova, pp 573–582
Frignani M, Giglio F, Langone L, Ravaioli M, Mangini A (1998) Late pleistocene-holocene sedimentary fluxes of organic carbon and biogenic silica in the northwestern Ross Sea (Antarctica). Ann Glaciol 27: 697–703
Heussner S, Ratti C, Carbonne J (1990) The PPS 3 time-series sediment trap and the trap sample processing techniques used during the ECOMARGE experiment. Cont Shelf Res 10: 943–958
Jaeger JM, Nittrouer CA, DeMaster DJ, Kelchner C, Dunbar RB (1996) Lateral transport of settling particles in the Ross Sea and implications for the fate of biogenic material. J Geophys Res 101: 18479–18488
Kumar N, Anderson RF, Mortlock RA, Froelich PN, Kubik P, Dittrich-Hannen D, Suter M (1995) Increased biological productivity and export production in the glacial Southern Ocean. Nature 378: 675–680
Labbrozzi L, Langone L, Frignani M, Ravaioli M (1998) Burial rates for biogenic silica, organic C and N at three sites of the Ross Sea (Antarctica). In: Albertelli G, Ambrosetti W, Piccazzo M, Ruffani Riva T (eds) Atti XII Congr Ass Ital Oceanogr Limnol, vol 2. Lang, Genova, pp 121–130
Langone L, Dunbar RB, Labbrozzi L, Ravaioli M, Frignani M (1996) Preliminary results from the ROSSMIZE cruise on biosiliceous sediment accumulation. Int Workshop Ross Sea Ecology, Taormina, May 14–16, pp 98–100 (Abstr)
Langone L, Frignani M, Cochran JK, Ravaioli M (1997) Scavenging processes and export fluxes close to a retreating ice margin (Ross Sea, Antarctica). Water Soil Air Pollut 99: 705–715
Langone L, Frignani M, Labbrozzi L, Ravaioli M (1998) Present-day biosiliceous sedimentation in the northwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica. J Mar Syst 17: 459–470
Ledford-Hoffman PA, DeMaster DJ, Nittrouer CA (1986) Biogenic silica in the Ross Sea and the importance of Antarctic continental-shelf deposits in the marine silica budget. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 50: 2099–2110
Licht KJ, Jennings AE, Andrews JT, Williams KM (1996) Chronology of late Wisconsin ice retreat from the western Ross Sea, Antarctica. Geology 24: 223–226
Martin JH, Fitzwater SE, Gordon RM (1990) Iron-deficiency limits phytoplankton growth in Antarctic waters. Global Biogeochem Cycles 4: 5–12
Mitchell BG, Holm-Hansen O (1991) Observations and modeling of the Antarctic phytoplankton crop in relation to mixing depth. Deep Sea Res 38: 981–1007
Nelson DM, Smith WO Jr (1991) Sverdrup revisited: critical depth, maximum chlorophyll levels, and the control of the Southern Ocean productivity by the irradiance-mixing regime. Limnol Oceanogr 36: 1650–1661
Nelson DM, DeMaster DJ, Dunbar RB, Smith WO (1996) Cycling of organic carbon and biogenic silica in the Southern Ocean: large-scale estimates of water-column sedimentary fluxes in the Ross Sea. J Geophys Res 101: 18519–18532
Picco P, Amici L, Langone L, Meloni R, Ravaioli M (1999) Temporal variability of currents in the Ross Sea (Antarctica). In: Manzella GMR, Spezie G (eds) Oceanography of the Ross Sea - Antarctica, Springer, Milano, Italy, 103–117
Ravaioli M, Frignani M, Gambi MC, Labbrozzi L, Langone L (1998) Particle fluxes and sediment characteristics at three selected sites in the Ross Sea (Antarctica). In: Manzella GMR, Spezie G (eds) Oceanography of the Ross Sea - Antarctica. Springer, Milano, Italy, 209–222
Reid DE (1989) Late cenozonic glacial-marine, carbonate, and turbidite sedimentation in the northwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica. MS Thesis, Rice University, Houston, TX, 179 PP
Rogers JC (1995) 13C/12C ratios in suspended and sea ice organic matter: variability and contributions to the sediments of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. MS Thesis, Rice University, Houston, TX, 108 pp
Smith WO Jr, Nelson DM (1985) Phytoplancton bloom produced by a receding ice edge in the Ross Sea: spatial coherence with the density field. Science 227: 163–166
Smith WO Jr, Sakshaug E (1990) Polar phytoplankton. In: Smith WO Jr (ed) Polar oceanography. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp 477–525
Smith WO Jr, Nelson DM, DiTullio GR, Leventer AR (1996) Temporal and spatial patterns in the Ross Sea: phytoplankton biomass, elemental composition, productivity and growth rates. J Geophys Res 101: 18455–18465
White WB, Peterson RG (1996) An Antarctic circumpolar wave in surface pressure, wind, temperature and sea-ice extent. Nature 380: 699–702
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Frignani, M., Langone, L., Labbrozzi, L., Ravaioli, M. (2000). Biogeochemical Processes in the Ross Sea (Antarctica): Present Knowledge and Perspectives. In: Faranda, F.M., Guglielmo, L., Ianora, A. (eds) Ross Sea Ecology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59607-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59607-0_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64048-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-59607-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive