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Particulate Organic Matter and Nutrient Utilization in the Mixed Layer of the Ross Sea

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Ross Sea Ecology

Abstract

The relationship between particulate organic matter, nutrient depletion and vertical stability were studied in different areas of the Ross Sea during the Antarctic spring and summer. In the upper mixed layer, identified in relation to the vertical stability index E[Z(UML)], a significant relationship between the vertical stability index and nutrient depletion was found. A similar relationship was also observed between particulate matter distribution and composition vs. nutrient utilization. Data analysis showed that stations could be divided into different groups with differing characteristics. Summer stations in the western and central areas of the Ross Sea and in the coastal zone of Terra Nova Bay were affected by ice melting and showed strong stratification (E[Z(UML)] > 25), higher biomass and nutrient depletion values (average values of POC = 236 µg |-1; PON = 40 µg |-1; ΔNW, ΔPW, ΔSiW = 7, 0.7, 23 mmol m-3, respectively). Another group of stations in the northern-central area of the Ross Sea was characterized by low nutrient utilization (ΔNW, ΔPW, ΔSiW < 4, 0.4, 10 mmol m-3, respectively), low E[Z(UML)] values (<25) and low concentrations of POM (average values of POC = 85 µg |-1 and PON = 11 µg |-1). In spring, the southern and central MIZ or polynya stations were more productive, with evident POM accumulation (average values of POC > 180 µg |-1 and PON > 29 µg |-1) and with phytoplankton assemblages dominated by diatoms and/or Phaeocystis antarctica. The degree of stabilization, but also sedimentation rates and grazing pressure played an important role in the development, accumulation and spatial variability of particulate organic matter in the Ross Sea areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento per lo Studio del Territorio e delle sue Risorse, Università di Genova, Viale Benedetto XV 5, Genova, Italy

    P. Povero & M. Fabiano

  2. Istituto Talassografico V. Vercelli, CNR, Viale Gessi 2, Trieste, Italy

    G. Catalano

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  1. P. Povero
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  2. M. Fabiano
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  1. Instituto di Scienze Ambientali Marine, Università di Genova, Viale Benedetto XV 5, I-16132, Genova, Italia

    Francesco Maria Faranda

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia ed Ecologia Marina, Università di Messina, Salita Sperone 31, I-98166, Messina-S. Agata, Italia

    Letterio Guglielmo

  3. Stazione Zoologica “Anton Dohrn”, Villa Comunale, I-80121, Napoli, Italia

    Adrianna Ianora

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Povero, P., Fabiano, M., Catalano, G. (2000). Particulate Organic Matter and Nutrient Utilization in the Mixed Layer of the Ross Sea. 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_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59607-0_10

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