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Abstract: The geographic distribution, stocks and vertical profiles of phytoplankton of the seasonal ice zone off east Antarctica were determined during the 2005–2006 austral summer during the Baseline Research on Oceanography, Krill and the Environment-West (BROKE-West) survey. CHEMTAX analysis of HPLC pigment samples, coupled with microscopy, permitted a detailed survey along seven transects covering an extensive area between 30°E and 80°E, from 62°S to the coast. Significant differences were found in the composition and stocks of populations separated by the Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (SB), as well as a small influence of the Weddell Gyre in the western sector of the ‘zone south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current’ (SACCZ). Within the SACCZ, we identified a primary bloom under the ice, a secondary bloom near the ice edge, and an open-ocean deep population. The similarity of distribution patterns across all transects allowed us to generalise a hypothesized sequence for the season. The primary phytoplankton bloom, with stocks of Chl a up to 239mgm−2, occurred about 35 days before complete disappearance of the sea ice, and contained both cells from the water column and those released from melting ice. These blooms were composed of haptophytes (in particular, colonies and gametes of Phaeocystis antarctica), diatoms and cryptophytes (or the cryptophyte symbiont-containing ciliate Myrionecta rubrum). Aggregates released by melting ice quickly sank from the upper water column and Chl a stocks declined to 56–92mgm−2, but the bloom of diatoms and, to a lesser extent, cryptophytes continued until about 20 days after ice melt. The disappearance of sea ice coincided with a sharp increase in P. antarctica and grazing, as indicated by increasing phaeophytin a and phaeophorbide a. Chlorophyllide content suggests that the diatom bloom then senesced, probably due to iron exhaustion. Stocks rapidly declined, apparently due to grazing krill that moved southward following the retreating sea ice. We suggest that grazing of the bloom and export of faecal pellets stripped the upper water column of iron (as suggested by low Fv/Fm ratios and CHEMTAX pigment ratios in Haptophytes – iron was not measured). Thus, export of iron by grazing, and possibly sedimentation, created a southward migrating iron gradient, limiting growth in the upper water column. North of the postulated iron gradient, a nanoflagellate community developed at depth, with Chl a stocks from 36–49mgm−2. This community was probably based on regenerated production, sustained by residual and/or upwelling iron, as indicated by a close correspondence between distributions of Chl a and profiles of Fv/Fm. The community consisted of haptophytes (chiefly Phaeocystis gametes), dinoflagellates, prasinophytes, cryptophytes, and some small diatoms. Selective grazing by krill may have fashioned and maintained the community. North of the SB, Chl a ranged from 40–67mgm−2 and was found predominantly in the mixed layer, but Fv/Fm ratios remained low, suggesting the community of P. antarctica and diatoms was iron-limited. These interpretations provide a cogent explanation for the composition and structure of late summer microbial populations in the marginal ice zone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Filter fractionated picophytoplankton from Antarctic coastal waters (summer 2001) represented only 7–33% of total phytoplankton, even though total stocks were low (average Chl a = 0.32 μg l−1, range = 0.13–1.03 μg l−1). Though all cells passed a 2 μm filter, electron microscopy revealed most cells were over 2 μm, principally Parmales, Phaeocystis sp., and small diatoms. CHEMTAX analysis of HPLC pigment data suggested type 8 haptophytes (e.g. Phaeocystis sp. plus Parmales and pelagophytes) contributed 7–58% of picoplanktonic chlorophyll a, type 6 haptophytes (e.g. coccolithophorids) 18–59%, diatoms 0–18% (mostly type 2 diatoms, e.g. Pseudonitzschia sp., 0–15%), prasinophytes 0–17%, with cell fragments of cryptophytes 0–40%, and dinoflagellates 0–11%. Only stocks of type 8 haptophytes and prasinophytes differed significantly due to successional changes. Zeaxanthin concentrations exceeded estimates from previous cyanobacterial counts and may derive from non-photosynthetic bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial communities have evolved mechanisms to allow them to survive within the challenging and changing pack ice environment. One such mechanism may be the exudation of photosynthetically-derived organic carbon into various extracellular pools. During the 2nd Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystems eXperiment (SIPEX-2), East Antarctic pack ice productivity and subsequent carbon allocation were quantified, together with physico-biogeochemical characteristics (29 September–28 October, 2012). Mean ice thickness ranged between 0.80 and 2.16 m, and typically exhibited a warm ice interior with weak temperature gradients. All stations, with one exception, were layered with granular (mean: 78%), columnar (mean: 15%), and mixed granular/columnar (mean: 4%) ice. Highest ice brine-volume fractions were at the ice–water interface, but all ice had high brine-volume fractions conducive for brine percolation (mean: 15%). Dissolved inorganic nutrient concentrations in the brine were scattered around theoretical dilution lines (TDLs), with some values of nitrate and nitrite, ammonium and silicic acid falling below TDLs, indicating nutrient depletion. Bulk ice dissolved organic carbon was low (mean: 64 µmol kg −1 ), but most samples showed enrichment in relation to TDLs. Microbial biomass (bacterial and algal) was low, and generally showed maxima in the sea-ice interior. Bottom ice algal communities were dominated by pennate diatom species (mean: 86% of total cell abundance). 14 C-total primary productivity ( 14 C-TPP) ranged from <0.01 to 2.22 mg C (mg chl a) −1 d −1 (<0.01 to 3.03 mg C m −2 d −1 ). The relative contribution of 14 C-total extracellular organic carbon ( 14 C-TEOC) to 14 C-TPP decreased over the observational period (range: 44–21%), with the remaining proportion being 14 C-particulate organic carbon. 14 C-TEOC composition was dominated by low molecular weight 14 C-extracellular dissolved organic carbon (mean: 61%), with the remaining proportion allocated to 14 C-colloidal organic carbon. Production of 14 C-extracellular polymeric substances was not detected at any station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Marine microbes (<200μm) contribute most of the living matter and carbon flow in the Southern Ocean, yet the factors that control the composition and function of these microbial communities are not well understood. To determine the importance of microbial grazers in controlling microbial abundance, we determined microbial standing stocks and rates of herbivory and bacterivory in relation to the physical environment off East Antarctica during the Baseline Research on Oceanography, Krill and the Environment: West (BROKE-West) survey, which covered waters from the Polar Front to the coast between 30 and 80°E. Concentrations of heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) (∼2 to 20μm), microzooplankton (∼20 to 200μm), bacteria, and chlorophyll a (Chl a) were determined and the growth and grazing mortality of phytoplankton and bacteria were estimated using the grazing dilution technique at 22 sites along the survey. Results showed that microzooplankton and HNF consumed on average 52% of bacterial production d−1 and 62% primary production d−1 but consumed >100%d−1 at the western ice-edge sites. Rates of bacterivory ranged from 0.4 - 2.6d−1 and were correlated with bacterial concentrations, bacterial growth rates and longitude. Rates were highest in the eastern-most part of the survey, which was sampled last, reflecting the transition along the successional continuum toward a respiration-based, senescent, microbial community. Rates of herbivory ranged from 0.3 to 2.4d−1 and were correlated with concentrations of microzooplankton and HNF combined, rates of phytoplankton growth, and latitude. Rates were highest at southern ice edge sites where concentrations of prey (as represented by Chl a) and microzooplankton were also highest. Cluster analysis of the concentrations of marine microbes and their rates of growth and grazing mortality identified 5 groups of sample sites that conveniently summarised the variability in the composition and function of the microbial community. Cluster groups differentiated between low Chl a (∼0.3μgl−1) open ocean Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) communities; and high Chl a (∼2.4μgl−1) ice-associated coastal blooms at various stages between bloom formation and senescence. This partitioning of cluster groups can be used to determine spatial and temporal patterns of carbon transfer by the microbial loop within the BROKE-West survey area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite the long-standing belief that seawater viscosity is driven by temperature and salinity, biologically increased seawater viscosity has repeatedly been reported in relation to phytoplankton exudates in shallow, productive coastal waters. Here, seawater viscosity was investigated in relation to microbial and phytoplanktonic communities off the coast of East Antarctica along latitudinal transects located between 30°E and 80°E in sub-surface waters and at the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). The physical component of seawater viscosity observed along each transects ranged from 1.80 to 1.95cP, while the actual seawater viscosity ranged from 1.85 to 3.69cP. This resulted in biologically increased seawater viscosity reaching up to 84.9% in sub-surface waters and 77.6% at the DCM. Significant positive correlations were found between elevated seawater viscosity and (i) bacterial abundance in sub-surface waters and (ii) chlorophyll a concentration and the abundance of flow cytometrically-defined auto- and heterotrophic protists at the DCM. Among the 12 groups and 108 species of protists identified under light microscopy, dinoflagellates and more specifically Alexandrium tamarense and Prorocentrum sp. were the main contributors to the patterns observed for elevated seawater viscosity. Our observations, which generalised the link previously identified between seawater viscosity and phytoplankton composition and standing stock to the Southern Ocean, are the first demonstration of increases in seawater viscosity linked to marine bacterial communities, and suggest that the microbially-increased viscosity might quantitatively be at least as important as the one related to phytoplankton secretion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]