Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Particle fluxes and δ15N variation of sinking particles in the central Bransfield Strait (Antarctica)

  • Published:
Geosciences Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sediment-trap deployment in the central Bransfield Strait during 1999/2000 shows distinct seasonal variation of particle fluxes, in which more than 99% of total annual flux occurred during a limited time. A more positive relationship between biogenic silica and total organic carbon fluxes in the intermediate-water sediment trap demonstrates that the surface-water production (mainly diatoms) played an important role in the supply of biogenic particles during the short period. The low δ15N values of particulate organic particles are attributed to high nitrate concentration in the Antarctic surface waters. The gradual increasing δ15N values in the bottom-water trap from the productive to unproductive season are likely associated with a switch in source from diatom aggregates to some remains of zooplankton, supplement to the horizontal contribution of lithogenic particles presumably from nearby shallow environment. Thus, the δ15N enrichment of sinking particles in the bottom-water trap during December to early February seems to be due to the laterally transported materials, assuming that the δ15N values decrease with depth in the Antarctic Polar Frontal region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abelmann, A. and Gersonde, R., 1991. Biosiliceous particle flux in the Southern Ocean. Marine Chemistry, 35, 503–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altabet, M.A., 1988. Variations in nitrogen isotopic composition between sinking and suspended particles: Implications for nitrogen cycling and particle transformation in the open ocean. Deep-Sea Research, 35, 535–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altabet, M.A. and Francois, R., 1994, Sedimentary nitrogen isotopic ratio as a recorder for surface ocean nitrate utilization. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 8, 103–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altabet, M.A. and Francois, R., 2001, Nitrogen isotope biogeochemistry of the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone at 170°W. Deep-Sea Research II, 48, 4247–4273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altabet, M.A. and Small, L.F. 1990, Nitrogen isotopic ratios in fecal pellets produced by marine zooplankton. Geochimical et Cosmochimica Acta, 54, 155–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bodungen, B.V., Fisher, G. Nothing, E.M. and Wefer, G. 1987, Sedimentation of krill faeces during spring development of phytoplankton in Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. In: Degens, E.T., Izdar, E. and Honjo, S. (eds.), Particle Flux in the Ocean Universitat Hamburg: Geology-Paleontology Institut, p. 243–257.

  • Brinton, E., 1991, Distribution and population structures of immature and adult Euphausia superba in the western Bransfield Strait region during the 1986–1987 summer. Deep-Sea Research, 38, 1169–1193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeMaster, D.J., 1981, The supply and accumulation of silica in the marine environment. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 45, 1715–1732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeMaster, D.J., Ragueneau, O. and Nittrouer, C.A., 1996, Preservation efficiencies and accumulation rates for biogenic silica and organic C, N, and P in high-latitude sediments: the Ross Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research, 101, 18501–18518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeNiro, M.J. and Epstein, S., 1981, Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 45, 341–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, R.B., Leventer, A.R. and Mucciarone, D.A., 1998, Water column sediment fluxes in the Ross Sea, Antarctica: atmospheric and sea ice forcing. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 30741–30759.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, G., Futterer, D., Gersonde, R., Honjo, S., Ostermann, D. and Wefer, G. 1988. Seasonal variability of particle flux in the Weddell Sea and its relation to ice cover. Nature, 335, 426–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francois, R., Altabet, M.A., Yu, E.F., Sigman, D., Bacon, M.P., Frank, M., Barielle, G. and Labeyrie, L., 1997, Water column stratification in the Southern Ocean contributed to lowering glacial atmospheric CO2. Nature, 389, 929–935.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francois, R., Altabet, M.A. and Buckle, L.H., 1992, Glacial to interglacial changes in surface nitrate utilization in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean as recorded by sediment δ15N. Paleoceanogrpahy, 7, 589–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gersonde, R. and Wefer, G., 1987, Sedimentation of biogenic siliceous particles in Antarctic waters from the Atlantic sector. Marine Micropaleontology, 11, 311–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honjo, S., Francois, R., Manganini, S., Dymond, J. and Collier, R., 2000, Particle fluxes to the interior of the Southern Ocean in the Western Pacific sector along 170°W. Deep-Sea Research, 47, 3521–3548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, J.S., Kang, S.H., Kim, E.J., Kim, D. and Kim, D.Y., 2001, 1999/2000 relative abundance of diatoms in year-round sediment trap materials from the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. The Studies on Natural Environment and Conservation of Polar Region, BSPP00001-05-1329-7, pp. 180–195. (in Korean with English abstract).

  • Karl, D.M., Tilbrook, B.D. and Tien, G., 1991, Seasonal coupling of organic matter production and particle flux in the western Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Deep-Sea Research, 38, 1097–1126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khim, B.K., Kim, D., Shin, H.C. and Kim, D.Y., 2005, Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of sinking particles in the eastern Bransfield Strait (Antarctica). Ocean Science Journal, 1, 167–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D., Kim, D.Y., Kim, Y.J. and Kang, Y.C., 2002, Seasonal variations of particle fluxes in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Ocean and Polar Research, 24, 153–166. (in Korean with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D., Kim, D.Y., Kim, Y.J., Kang, Y.C. and Shim, J., 2004, Downward fluxes of biogenic material in Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 16, 227–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lourey, M.J., Trull, T.W. and Sigman, D.M., 2003, Sensittivity of δ15N of nitrate, surface suspended and deep sinking particulate nitrogen to seasonal nitrate depletion in the Southern Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 17, doi:10.1029/2002GB001973.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montoya, J.P. and MacCarthy, J.J., 1995, Isotopic fractionation during nitrate uptake by phytoplankton grown in continuous culture. Journal of Plankton Research, 17, 439–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palanques, A., Isla, E., Masqué, P., Puig, P., Sánchez-Cabeza, J.A., Gili, J.M. and Guillén, J., 2002, Downward particle fluxes and sediment accumulation rates in the western Bransfield Strait: Implications of lateral transport for carbon cycle studies in Antarctic marginal seas. Journal of Marine Research, 60, 347–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabouille, C., Galliard, J.F., Treguer, P. and Vincendeau, M.A., 1997, Biogenic silica recycling in surficial sediments across the Polar Front of the Southern Ocean (Indian Sector). Deep-Sea Research II, 44, 1151–1176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, J.M., 1981, Distribution of mean annual air temperature in the Antarctic Peninsula. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin, 43, 49–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigman, D.M., Altabet, M.A., Francois, R., McCorkle, D.C. and Gaillard, J.F., 1999, The isotopic composition of diatom-bound nitrogen in Southern Ocean sediments. Paleoceanography, 14, 118–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, W.O. and Nelson, D.M., 1986, The importance of ice edge phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean. Bioscience, 36, 251–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, W.O., Marra, L., Hiscock, M.R. and Barber, R.T., 2000, The seasonal cycle of phytoplankton biomass and primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Deep-Sea Research II, 47, 3119–3140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treguer, P. and van Bennekom, A.J., 1991, The annual production of biogenic silica in the Antarctic Ocean. Marine Chemistry, 35, 477–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treguer, P. and Jacques, G., 1992, Dynamics of nutrients and phytoplankton, and structure of food webs in the different sub-systems of the Antarctic Ocean. Polar Biology, 12, 149–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varela, M., Ferdandez, E. and Serret, P., 2002, Sized-fractionated phytoplankton biomass and primary production in the Gerlache and South Bransfield Straits (Antarctic Peninsula) in austral summer 95–96. Deep-Sea Research II, 49, 749–768.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada, E., Terazaki, M., Kabaya, Y. and Nemoto, T., 1987,15N and13C abundances in the Antarctic Ocean with emphasis on the biogeochemical structure of the food web. Deep-Sea Research, 34, 829–841.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wefer, G. and Fischer, G., 1991, Annual primary production and export flux in the Southern Ocean from sediment trap data. Marine Chemistry, 35, 597–613.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wefer, G., Fisher, G., Fütterer, D. and Gersonde, R., 1988, Seasonal particle flux in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Deep-Sea Research, 35, 891–898.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, M., Niler, PP. and Hu, J.H., 2002, Surface currents in the Bransfield and Gerlache Straits, Antarctica. Deep-Sea Research I, 49, 267–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Earth Environmental System, Pusan National University, 609-735, Busan, Korea

    Boo-Keun Khim

  2. Ocean Climate and Environment Research Division, KORDI, 426-744, Ansan, Korea

    Dongseon Kim

  3. Polar Applied Science Division, KOPRI, 406-840, Inchon, Korea

    Hyong Chul Shin & Dong Yup Kim

Authors
  1. Boo-Keun Khim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dongseon Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hyong Chul Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dong Yup Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Boo-Keun Khim.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Khim, BK., Kim, D., Shin, H.C. et al. Particle fluxes and δ15N variation of sinking particles in the central Bransfield Strait (Antarctica). Geosci J 11, 201–209 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02913933

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02913933

Key words

Search

Navigation