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Protists in the marine ice of the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

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Abstract

Samples of marine ice were collected from the Amery Ice Shelf, a large embayed ice shelf in East Antarctica, during the Austral summer of 2001–2002. The samples came from a site ∼90 km from the iceberg calving front of the shelf, where the ice is 479 m thick and the lower 203 m is composed of accreted marine ice. Protists identified within the marine ice layer of the Amery Ice Shelf include diatoms, chrysophytes, silicoflagellates and dinoflagellates. The numerical dominance of sea ice indicator diatoms such as Fragilariopsis curta, Fragilariopsis cylindrus, Fragilariopsis rhombica and Chaetoceros resting spores, and the presence of cold open water diatoms such as Fragilariopsis kerguelensis and species of Thalassiosira suggest the protist composition of the Amery marine ice is attributable to seeding from melting pack and/or fast ice protist communities in the highly productive waters of Prydz Bay to the north.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to Jennifer Penschow of the Scanning Electron Microscope Unit, Australian Antarctic Division, and also to AMISOR field party personnel, particularly Russell Brand and Alan Elcheikh, as well as to Adam Treverrow for preparation of freezer samples. Constructive reviews by two anonymous referees significantly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    D. Roberts, M. Craven & I. Allison

  2. Australian Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, TAS, 7050, Australia

    M. Craven, I. Allison & G. Nash

  3. Polar Research Institute of China, 451 Jin-qiao Road, Pudong, Shanghai, 200129, China

    Minghong Cai

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  1. D. Roberts
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  2. M. Craven
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  3. Minghong Cai
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  4. I. Allison
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  5. G. Nash
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Correspondence to M. Craven.

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Roberts, D., Craven, M., Cai, M. et al. Protists in the marine ice of the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica. Polar Biol 30, 143–153 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0169-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0169-7

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