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Seasonal cycling in carbon, alkalinity, and nutrients in landfast sea ice in Hangar Cove, Adelaide Island, West Antarctic Peninsula, were investigated during winter, spring, and summer 2014–2015. Temporal dynamics were driven by changes in the ice-sea physicochemical conditions, ice-algal community composition, and organic matter production. Winter sea ice was enriched with dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and inorganic nutrients from organic matter remineralization. Variations in alkalinity (Alk) and DIC indicated that abiotic calcium carbonate (ikaite) precipitation had taken place. Relative to other nutrients, low phosphate (PO4) concentrations potentially resulted from co-precipitation with ikaite. Seawater flooding and meltwater induced variability in the physical and biogeochemical properties in the upper ice in spring where nutrient resupply supported haptophyte productivity and increased particulateorganic carbon (POC) in the interstitial layer. Rapid nitrate (NO 3) and DIC (μmol kg−1) uptake occurred alongside substantial build-up of algal biomass (746 μgchlorophyll a L−1) and POC (6191 μmol L −1) during summer. Silicic acid drawdown followed NO3 depletion by approximately 1 month with a shift to diatom-dominated communities. Accumulation of PO4 in the lower ice layers in summer likely resulted from PO4 released during ikaite dissolution in the presence of biofilms. Increased Alk : DIC ratios in the lower ice and under-ice water suggested that ikaite dissolution bufferedagainst meltwater dilution and enhanced the potential for atmospheric CO 2 uptake. This study revealed strong seasonality in carbon and nutrient cycling in landfast sea ice and showed the importance of sea ice in biogeochemical cycling in seasonally ice-covered waters around Antarctica.

As a net source of nutrients fuelling global primary production, changes in Southern Ocean productivity are expected to influence biological carbon storage across the global ocean. Following a high emissions, low mitigation pathway, primary productivity in the Southern Ocean is predicted to increase by up to 40 % over the 21st century. The ecophysiological response of marine phytoplankton experiencing climate change will be a key determinant in understanding the impact of Southern Ocean productivity shifts on the carbon cycle. Yet, phytoplankton ecophysiology is poorly represented in CMIP6 climate models, leading to substantial uncertainty in the representation of their role in carbon sequestration. Here we synthesise the existing spatial and temporal projections of Southern Ocean productivity from CMIP6 models, separated by phytoplankton class and identify key processes where greater observational data coverage can help to improve future model performance. We find bidirectional changes in iron and light limitation of phytoplankton, while the greatest changes in productivity occur in the coastal zone of the Southern Ocean. Different phytoplankton groups are responsible for driving productivity increases at different latitudes, yet we observe that models disagree on the ecological mechanism behind these productivity changes. We propose that an evidence-based sampling approach targeting climate-driven changes in ocean biogeochemistry and community assemblages in the regions of rapid projected productivity changes could help to resolve the empirical principles underlying phytoplankton community structure in the Southern Ocean.

Unprecedented and dramatic transformations are occurring in the Arctic in response to climate change, but academic, public, and political discourse has disproportionately focussed on the most visible and direct aspects of change, including sea ice melt, permafrost thaw, the fate of charismatic megafauna, and the expansion of fisheries. Such narratives disregard the importance of less visible and indirect processes and, in particular, miss the substantive contribution of the shelf seafloor in regulating nutrients and sequestering carbon. Here, we summarise the biogeochemical functioning of the Arctic shelf seafloor before considering how climate change and regional adjustments to human activities may alter its biogeochemical and ecological dynamics, including ecosystem function, carbon burial, or nutrient recycling. We highlight the importance of the Arctic benthic system in mitigating climatic and anthropogenic change and, with a focus on the Barents Sea, offer some observations and our perspectives on future management and policy.

The cycling of dissolved organic matter in the productive west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region is not well understood. For this study, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) concentrations and other biogeochemical measurements were collected along the WAP shelf during austral summer 2017. Concentrations of both DOC and DON in the upper ocean were lower than in lower latitudes (38.13–48.00 μmol C L−1, 2.90–10.52 μmol N L−1). DOC is produced along with particulate organic carbon during primary production, and is subsequently consumed by bacteria. DON shows high variability and is more likely the product of bacterial activity only in the surface waters. The N-isotopic composition of nitrate and particulate nitrogen showed intense nitrification, especially along the coast, and supports the findings of intense upper ocean cycling of organic matter of both particulate and dissolved forms. Export of DOM from the productive surface layer was negligible in the shelf waters of the WAP. Samples from glacial melt areas showed increased DON concentrations (7.88–10.52 μmol N L−1) so we conclude that increasing warming and continuing melting of Antarctic glaciers may lead to higher concentrations of dissolved organic matter but also higher bacterial activity with more intense upper-ocean carbon and nitrogen cycling.

Over recent decades the highest rates of water column warming and sea ice loss across the Arctic Ocean have been observed in the Barents Sea. These physical changes have resulted in rapid ecosystem adjustments, manifesting as a northward migration of temperate phytoplankton species at the expense of silica-based diatoms. These changes will potentially alter the composition of phytodetritus deposited at the seafloor, which acts as a biogeochemical reactor and is pivotal in the recycling of key nutrients, such as silicon (Si). To appreciate the sensitivity of the Barents Sea benthic system to the observed changes in surface primary production, there is a need to better understand this benthic–pelagic coupling. Stable Si isotopic compositions of sediment pore waters and the solid phase from three stations in the Barents Sea reveal a coupling of the iron (Fe) and Si cycles, the contemporaneous dissolution of lithogenic silicate minerals (LSi) alongside biogenic silica (BSi), and the potential for the reprecipitation of dissolved silicic acid (DSi) as authigenic clay minerals (AuSi). However, as reaction rates cannot be quantified from observational data alone, a mechanistic understanding of which factors control these processes is missing. Here, we employ reaction–transport modelling together with observational data to disentangle the reaction pathways controlling the cycling of Si within the seafloor. Processes such as the dissolution of BSi are active on multiple timescales, ranging from weeks to hundreds of years, which we are able to examine through steady state and transient model runs. Steady state simulations show that 60 % to 98 % of the sediment pore water DSi pool may be sourced from the dissolution of LSi, while the isotopic composition is also strongly influenced by the desorption of Si from metal oxides, most likely Fe (oxyhydr)oxides (FeSi), as they reductively dissolve. Further, our model simulations indicate that between 2.9 % and 37 % of the DSi released into sediment pore waters is subsequently removed by a process that has a fractionation factor of approximately −2 ‰, most likely representing reprecipitation as AuSi. These observations are significant as the dissolution of LSi represents a source of new Si to the ocean DSi pool and precipitation of AuSi an additional sink, which could address imbalances in the current regional ocean Si budget. Lastly, transient modelling suggests that at least one-third of the total annual benthic DSi flux could be sourced from the dissolution of more reactive, diatom-derived BSi deposited after the surface water bloom at the marginal ice zone. This benthic–pelagic coupling will be subject to change with the continued northward migration of Atlantic phytoplankton species, the northward retreat of the marginal ice zone and the observed decline in the DSi inventory of the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean over the last 3 decades.

Biogeochemical cycling of silicon (Si) in the Barents Sea is under considerable pressure from physical and chemical changes, including dramatic warming and sea ice retreat, together with a decline in dissolved silicic acid (DSi) concentrations of Atlantic inflow waters since 1990. Associated changes in the community composition of phytoplankton blooms will alter the material comprising the depositional flux, which will subsequently influence recycling processes at and within the seafloor. In this study we assess the predominant controls on the early diagenetic cycling of Si, a key nutrient in marine ecosystems, by combining stable isotopic analysis (Si) of pore water DSi and of operationally defined reactive pools of the solid phase. We show that low biogenic silica (BSi) contents (0.26-0.52 wt% or 92-185 mol g dry wt-1) drive correspondingly low asymptotic concentrations of pore water DSi of 100 M, relative to biosiliceous sediments (20 wt% BSi) wherein DSi can reach 900 M. While Barents Sea surface sediments appear almost devoid of BSi, we present evidence for the rapid recycling of bloom derived BSi that generates striking transient peaks in sediment pore water [DSi] of up to 300 M, which is a feature that is subject to future shifts in phytoplankton community compositions. Using a simple isotopic mass balance calculation we show that at two of three stations the pore water DSi pool at 0.5 cm below the seafloor (+0.96 to +1.36 ‰) is sourced from the mixing of core top waters (+1.46 to +1.69 ‰) with the dissolution of BSi (+0.82 to +1.50 ‰), supplemented with a lithogenic Si source (LSi) (-0.89 0.16‰). Further, our sediment pore water Si profiles uncover a coupling of the Si cycle with the redox cycling of metal oxides associated with isotopically light Si (-2.88 0.17‰). We suggest that a high LSi:BSi ratio and apparent metal oxide influence could lead to a degree of stability in the annual background benthic flux of DSi, despite current pressures on pelagic phytoplankton communities. Coupled with supporting isotopic evidence for the precipitation of authigenic clays in Barents Sea sediment cores, our observations have implications for the regional Si budget.

Expanding human activities alongside climate change, the introduction of invasive species and water contamination pose multiple threats to the unique marine ecosystems of the Pechora Sea in the Russian Arctic. Baseline data on biodiversity and responses to environmental change are urgently needed. Benthic decapod crustaceans are globally distributed and play an important role in fisheries, yet their roles in food webs are less understood. In this study, we used an integrated approach combining stomach content analysis and stable isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) to examine the trophic niches of three decapod species in the Pechora Sea including the invasive snow crabChionoecetes opilioand two species of native decapods, the spider crabHyas araneusand the hermit crabPagurus pubescens. Stomach contents of 75 decapods were analysed (C. opilion = 23;H. araneusn = 9;P. pubescensn = 43), and 20 categories of prey items were identified with the most frequently occurring prey items being bivalve molluscs (Ciliatocardium ciliatum,Ennucula tenuis,Macoma calcarea),polychaetes, crustaceans and plant debris. Bayesian ellipse analyses of stable isotope signatures (n = 40) revealed thatC. opiliodisplays an overlapping trophic niche with the two native decapods, providing direct evidence that the invader likely competes for food resources with bothH. araneusandP. pubescens. As such, the presence of this invasive species could hold important consequences for trophic interactions, benthic ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Microplastics were also found to be a likely stressor on this ecosystem, as 28% of all stomachs contained digested microplastics among other items. Long-term studies of benthic ecosystem structure and functioning are now needed to more fully understand the extent to which this new competitor may alter the future biodiversity of the Pechora Sea alongside the additional stressor of digested plastics.

Periods of prolonged extreme warm temperatures, or heatwaves, have been shown to have significant impacts on human health, in particular affecting the young and old disproportionately. Observations over the past century show that the severity, frequency and duration of these heatwaves are increasing as global temperatures rise, and model simulations suggest there will be further increases in these characteristics in the future. We use a range of CMIP6 ScenarioMIP future simulations to show how heatwave characteristics change both globally and regionally. We show how these changes differ depending on the Shared Socio-economic Pathway (SSP) taken, highlighting the sensitivity of heatwaves to both global and regional warming in each scenario. The work also explores the non-linear trend between warming and heatwave characteristics, and how they vary in different future scenarios. The results suggest that the pathway followed has significant influence on heatwave attributes, and that attempting to limit changes by a set measure cannot be done by simply restricting the level of future warming to an agreed, designated temperature, such as the “1.5C above pre-industrial” figure often used in policy. Finally, we present how this work is been utilised in the production of the Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), which provides the first comprehensive view of children’s exposure and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. We also aim to highlight how indices like this are being used to help prepare resources for future issues related to climate events.

Knowledge of the ocean surface layer beneath Antarctic landfast ice is sparse. In this article surface layer turbulent and fine structure are quantified with and without landfast ice at the same West Antarctic Peninsula location. Landfast ice reduced turbulence levels locally to an order of magnitude less than ice-free values, and near-inertial energy and sub-inertial tidal energy levels to less than half their ice-free values. Vertical turbulent heat and nutrient fluxes were, respectively, 6 and 10 times greater than previously estimated. Under-ice tidal energy dissipation over the entire Antarctic continental shelf due to seasonal landfast ice cover is estimated to be between 788 MW to ∼6 GW. The total rate of wind-generated turbulence in the surface ocean is greatly reduced by the presence of seasonal landfast ice to an average of 14% of the ice-free value, but with large sectoral variations. Counter-intuitively, however, tides and wind contribute approximately equally to the turbulent kinetic energy budget of the upper ocean between the Antarctic coastline and the maximal landfast ice extent, with large sectoral variations, attributed to geographic variations in the strength of the barotropic tide.

The risk of the mosquito-borne diseases malaria, dengue fever and Zika virus is expected to shift both temporally and spatially under climate change. As climate change projections continue to improve, our ability to predict these shifts is also enhanced. This paper predicts transmission suitability for these mosquito-borne diseases, which are three of the most significant, using the most up-to-date climate change projections. Using a mechanistic methodology, areas that are newly suitable and those where people are most at risk of transmission under the best- and worst-case climate change scenarios have been identified. The results show that although transmission suitability is expected to decrease overall for malaria, some areas will become newly suitable, putting naïve populations at risk. In contrast, transmission suitability for dengue fever and Zika virus is expected to increase both in duration and geographical extent. Although transmission suitability is expected to increase in temperate zones for a few months of the year, suitability remains focused in the tropics. The highest transmission suitability in tropical regions is likely to exacerbate the intense existing vulnerability of these populations, especially children, to the multiple consequences of climate change, and their severe lack of resources and agency to cope with these impacts and pressures. As these changes in transmission suitability are amplified under the worst-case climate change scenario, this paper makes the case in support of enhanced and more urgent efforts to mitigate climate change than has been achieved to date. By presenting consistent data on the climate-driven spread of multiple mosquito-borne diseases, our work provides more holistic information to underpin prevention and control planning and decision making at national and regional levels.

Dotson Ice Shelf (DIS) in West Antarctica is undergoing rapid basal melting driven by intrusions of warm, saline Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) onto the continental shelf. Meltwater from DIS is thought to influence biology in the adjacent Amundsen Sea Polynya (ASP), which exhibits the highest Net Primary Productivity (NPP) per unit area of any coastal polynya in the Southern Ocean. However, the relative importance of iron and light in colimiting the spring phytoplankton bloom in the ASP remains poorly understood. In this modelling study we first investigate the mechanisms by which ice shelves impact NPP, then map spatio‐temporal patterns in iron‐light colimitation, and finally examine the environmental drivers of iron and light supply. We find that ice shelf melting leads to greater upper ocean iron concentrations, both directly due to release of iron from sediments entrained at the glacier bed, and indirectly via a buoyancy‐driven overturning circulation which pulls iron from CDW to the surface. Both of these mechanisms increase NPP compared to experiments where ice shelf melt is suppressed. We then show that the phytoplankton self‐shading feedback delays the bloom and reduces peak NPP by 80% compared to experiments where light penetration is independent of chlorophyll. Compared to light limitation, iron limitation due to phytoplankton uptake is more important a) later in the season, b) higher in the water column and c) further from the ice shelf. Finally, sensitivity experiments show that variability in CDW intrusion influences NPP by controlling the horizontal spreading of iron‐rich meltwater.

In this study we evaluate the benthic fluxes of silicic acid along the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). Silicic acid (DSi) is one of the macronutrients essential in fuelling biological hotspots of diatom-dominated primary production along the WAP. Here we measure the concentration and stable silicon isotopic composition of DSi in porewater profiles, biogenic silica content (BSi) and diatom abundance from sediment cores collected along the WAP. We couple these measurements with reaction-transport modelling, to assess the DSi flux and the processes that release this key nutrient from the sediment into the overlying waters. Our results show that the benthic DSi flux is dominated by the diffusive flux, which is estimated to be equivalent to 26.7 ± 2.7 Gmol yr−1 for the WAP continental shelf. The DSi isotope profiles reveal the important impact of sedimentary processes on porewater DSi and suggest that biogenic silica dissolution is the main source of DSi in porewaters and consequently of the benthic fluxes. Our integrated data model assessment highlights the impact of surface productivity on sedimentary processes and the dynamic environment of core-top sediments where dissolution and reverse weathering reactions control DSi exchanges.

The Barents Sea is experiencing long-term climate-driven changes, e.g. modification in oceanographic conditions and extensive sea ice loss, which can lead to large, yet unquantified disruptions to ecosystem functioning. This key region hosts a large fraction of Arctic primary productivity. However, processes governing benthic and pelagic coupling are not mechanistically understood, limiting our ability to predict the impacts of future perturbations. We combine field observations with a reaction-transport model approach to quantify organic matter (OM) processing and disentangle its drivers. Sedimentary OM reactivity patterns show no gradients relative to sea ice extent, being mostly driven by seafloor spatial heterogeneity. Burial of high reactivity, marine-derived OM is evident at sites influenced by Atlantic Water (AW), whereas low reactivity material is linked to terrestrial inputs on the central shelf. Degradation rates are mainly driven by aerobic respiration (40–75%), being greater at sites where highly reactive material is buried. Similarly, ammonium and phosphate fluxes are greater at those sites. The present-day AW-dominated shelf might represent the future scenario for the entire Barents Sea. Our results represent a baseline systematic understanding of seafloor geochemistry, allowing us to anticipate changes that could be imposed on the pan-Arctic in the future if climate-driven perturbations persist. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The changing Arctic Ocean: consequences for biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystem functioning’.

Nutrient supply to the surface ocean is a key factor regulating primary production in the Arctic Ocean under current conditions and with ongoing warming and sea ice losses. Here we present seasonal nitrate concentration and hydrographic data from two oceanographic moorings on the northern Barents shelf between autumn 2017 and summer 2018. The eastern mooring was sea ice-covered to varying degrees during autumn, winter and spring, and was characterized by more Arctic-like oceanographic conditions, while the western mooring was ice-free year-round and showed a greater influence of Atlantic water masses. The seasonal cycle in nitrate dynamics was similar under ice-influenced and ice-free conditions, with biological nitrate uptake beginning near-synchronously in early May, but important differences between the moorings were observed. Nitrate supply to the surface ocean preceding and during the period of rapid drawdown was greater at the ice-free more Atlantic-like western mooring, and nitrate drawdown occurred more slowly over a longer period of time. This suggests that with ongoing sea ice losses and Atlantification, the expected shift from more Arctic-like ice-influenced conditions to more Atlantic-like ice-free conditions is likely to increase nutrient availability and the duration of seasonal drawdown in this Arctic shelf region. The extent to which this increased nutrient availability and longer drawdown periods will lead to increases in total nitrate uptake, and support the projected increases in primary production, will depend on changes in upper ocean stratification and their effect on light availability to phytoplankton as changes in climate and the physical environment proceed. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The changing Arctic Ocean: consequences for biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystem functioning'.

Mesoscale and submesoscale eddies play an important role in the distribution of heat and biogeochemical properties throughout the global oceans. Such eddies are important in the Arctic Ocean, particularly in the frontal regions, but are difficult to detect using traditional satellite‐based methods. Here we use high‐resolution in situ data from an underwater glider to identify a surface eddy that was masked from remote‐sensing observations. We hypothesize that this masking was driven by thermal stratification driven by surface heat fluxes. The eddy was likely generated north of the Polar Front, before crossing the front and traveling south. We estimate that the observed eddy contained 4 × 1010 m3 of Arctic Water. The observation of this eddy, masked in satellite observations of sea surface temperature, suggests a historical underestimation of the prevalence and importance of eddies in this key mixing region. The water column of the Barents Sea, one of the circumpolar Arctic seas has a seemingly simple structure. In the south, warm Atlantic Water dominates; in the north, cold Arctic Water dominates; while at their boundary, the Arctic Water overlies the Atlantic Water. In the summer, the Arctic Water is largely devoid of the nutrients required to fuel the growth of phytoplankton, which is key to maintaining life in the ocean. In contrast, the Atlantic Water is one of the primary sources of nutrient‐rich water into the Arctic. In this study, we have used an underwater robotic instrument to identify a patch of Arctic Water which has been shed from the Arctic sector of the Barents Sea into the Atlantic sector. This patch of water is seen to have lower phytoplankton concentrations than the surrounding water. Due to atmospheric heating of the surface, this patch would be indistinguishable from the surrounding Atlantic Water and so would be absent for satellite observations of sea surface temperature. We suggest that this temperature masking has meant that we have previously underestimated how much water is moved within these patches in the Arctic seas.

Large parts of the far north of our planet, the Arctic, were permanently covered with ice for thousands of years, but this is now changing. By burning fossil fuels like coal and oil, we rapidly return carbon, stored for millions of years in the Earth’s crust, back into the atmosphere. This increases the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere and causes Earth’s surface temperature to rise. Warmer temperatures and melting sea ice and glaciers are changing the Arctic environment. In a few decades, the North Pole could be ice-free for the first time in human history. A warming Arctic will have global consequences, through higher sea levels, changes in climate and precipitation patterns, and loss of fish, birds, and marine mammals. In this article, we discuss how large changes in the Arctic environment may affect the entire planet.

The west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region has undergone significant changes in temperature and seasonal ice dynamics since the mid-twentieth century, with strong impacts on the regional ecosystem, ocean chemistry and hydrographic properties. Changes to these long-term trends of warming and sea ice decline have been observed in the 21st century, but their consequences for ocean physics, chemistry and the ecology of the high-productivity shelf ecosystem are yet to be fully established. The WAP shelf is important for regional krill stocks and higher trophic levels, whilst the degree of variability and change in the physical environment and documented biological and biogeochemical responses make this a model system for how climate and sea ice changes might restructure high-latitude ecosystems. Although this region is arguably the best-measured and best-understood shelf region around Antarctica, significant gaps remain in spatial and temporal data capable of resolving the atmosphere-ice-ocean-ecosystem feedbacks that control the dynamics and evolution of this complex polar system. Here we summarise the current state of knowledge regarding the key mechanisms and interactions regulating the physical, biogeochemical and biological processes at work, the ways in which the shelf environment is changing, and the ecosystem response to the changes underway. We outline the overarching cross-disciplinary priorities for future research, as well as the most important discipline-specific objectives. Underpinning these priorities and objectives is the need to better define the causes, magnitude and timescales of variability and change at all levels of the system. A combination of traditional and innovative approaches will be critical to addressing these priorities and developing a co-ordinated observing system for the WAP shelf, which is required to detect and elucidate change into the future. Fil: Henley, Sian F.. University of Edinburgh; Reino Unido Fil: Schofield, Oscar M.. State University of New Jersey; Estados Unidos Fil: Hendry, Katharine R.. University Of Bristol; Reino Unido Fil: Schloss, Irene Ruth. Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego; Argentina. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Steinberg, Deborah K.. Virginia Institute of Marine Science. College of William and Mary; Estados Unidos Fil: Moffat, Carlos. University of Delaware; Estados Unidos Fil: Peck, Lloyd S.. British Antarctic Survey; Reino Unido Fil: Costa, Daniel P.. University of California Santa Cruz; Estados Unidos Fil: Bakker, Dorothee C.E.. University of East Anglia; Reino Unido Fil: Hughes, Claire. University Of California, Santa Cruz; Fil: Rozema, Patrick D.. University of East Anglia; Reino Unido Fil: Ducklow, Hugh W.. Columbia University; Estados Unidos Fil: Abele, Doris. Alfred Wegener Institute; Alemania Fil: Stefels, Jacqueline. University of Groningen; Países Bajos Fil: Van Leeuwe, Maria A.. University of Groningen; Países Bajos Fil: Brussaard, Corina P.D.. Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research; Países Bajos Fil: Buma, Anita G.J.. University of Groningen; Países Bajos Fil: Kohut, Josh. Royal Netherlands Institute For Sea Research - Nioz; Fil: Sahade, Ricardo Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina. University Of Groningen; Fil: Friedlaender, Ari S.. State University of New Jersey; Estados Unidos Fil: Stammerjohn, Sharon E.. State University of Colorado at Boulder; Estados Unidos Fil: Venables, Hugh J.. British Antarctic Survey; Reino Unido Fil: Meredith, Michael. British Antarctic Survey; Reino Unido

Process-based, mechanistic investigations of organic matter transformation and diagenesis directly beneath the sediment–water interface (SWI) in Arctic continental shelves are vital as these regions are at greatest risk of future change. This is in part due to disruptions in benthic–pelagic coupling associated with ocean current change and sea ice retreat. Here, we focus on a high-resolution, multi-disciplinary set of measurements that illustrate how microbial processes involved in the degradation of organic matter are directly coupled with inorganic and organic geochemical sediment properties (measured and modelled) as well as the extent/depth of bioturbation. We find direct links between aerobic processes, reactive organic carbon and highest abundances of bacteria and archaea in the uppermost layer (0–4.5 cm depth) followed by dominance of microbes involved in nitrate/nitrite and iron/manganese reduction across the oxic-anoxic redox boundary (approx. 4.5–10.5 cm depth). Sulfate reducers dominate in the deeper (approx. 10.5–33 cm) anoxic sediments which is consistent with the modelled reactive transport framework. Importantly, organic matter reactivity as tracked by organic geochemical parameters ( n -alkanes, n -alkanoic acids, n -alkanols and sterols) changes most dramatically at and directly below the SWI together with sedimentology and biological activity but remained relatively unchanged across deeper changes in sedimentology. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The changing Arctic Ocean: consequences for biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystem functioning’.

Highlights • Novel multi-disciplinary approach to tracing freshwater and particle transport into boundary currents; • Significant glacial inputs reach coastal waters and are transported rapidly offshore; • Low surface water dissolved silicon concentrations maintained by diatom activity despite strong glacial and benthic supplies. Abstract Biogeochemical cycling in high-latitude regions has a disproportionate impact on global nutrient budgets. Here, we introduce a holistic, multi-disciplinary framework for elucidating the influence of glacial meltwaters, shelf currents, and biological production on biogeochemical cycling in high-latitude continental margins, with a focus on the silica cycle. Our findings highlight the impact of significant glacial discharge on nutrient supply to shelf and slope waters, as well as surface and benthic production in these regions, over a range of timescales from days to thousands of years. Whilst biological uptake in fjords and strong diatom activity in coastal waters maintains low dissolved silicon concentrations in surface waters, we find important but spatially heterogeneous additions of particulates into the system, which are transported rapidly away from the shore. We expect the glacially-derived particles – together with biogenic silica tests – to be cycled rapidly through shallow sediments, resulting in a strong benthic flux of dissolved silicon. Entrainment of this benthic silicon into boundary currents may supply an important source of this key nutrient into the Labrador Sea, and is also likely to recirculate back into the deep fjords inshore. This study illustrates how geochemical and oceanographic analyses can be used together to probe further into modern nutrient cycling in this region, as well as the palaeoclimatological approaches to investigating changes in glacial meltwater discharge through time, especially during periods of rapid climatic change in the Late Quaternary.

A basin-wide transect of nitrate isotopes (δ15NNO3, δ18ONO3), across the UK GEOTRACES 40°S transect in the South Atlantic is presented. This data set is used to investigate Atlantic nutrient cycling and the communication pathways of nitrogen cycling processes in the global ocean. Intermediate waters formed in the subantarctic are enriched in δ15NNO3 and δ18ONO3 from partial utilization of nitrate by phytoplankton and distant denitrification processes, transporting heavy isotope signatures to the subtropical Atlantic. Water mass modification through the Atlantic is investigated by comparing data from 40°S (South Atlantic) and 30°N (North Atlantic). This reveals that nitrate in the upper intermediate waters is regenerated as it transits through the subtropical Atlantic, as evidenced by decreases in δ18ONO3. We document diazotrophy-producing high N:P particle ratios (18–21:1) for remineralization, which is further confirmed by a decrease in δ15NNO3 through the subtropical Atlantic. These modifications influence the isotopic signatures of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) which is subsequently exported from the Atlantic to the Southern Ocean. This study reveals the dominance of recycling processes and diazotrophy on nitrate cycling in the Atlantic. These processes provide a source of low δ15NNO3 to the Southern Ocean via the NADW, to counteract enrichment in δ15NNO3 from water column denitrification in the Indo/Pacific basins. We hence identify the Southern Ocean as a key hub through which denitrification and N2 fixation communicate in the ocean through deepwater masses. Therefore, the balancing of the oceanic N budget and isotopic signatures require time scales of oceanic mixing.

The 1st Workshop of the SOOS WAP Working Group; Cambridge, United Kingdom, 15–16 May 2017 In Icy Waters: The Future of Marine Biogeochemical Research off the West Antarctic Peninsula; Chicheley, United Kingdom, 17–18 May 2017

The Southern Ocean is a key region for silica (Si) cycling, and the isotopic signatures established here influence the rest of the world's oceans. The climate and ecosystem of the Southern Ocean are changing rapidly, with the potential to impact Si cycling and isotope dynamics. This study examines high-resolution time-series dataset of dissolved Si concentrations and isotopic signatures, particulate Si concentrations and diatom speciation at a coastal site on the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), in order to characterise changes in Si cycling with respect to changes occurring in productivity and diatom assemblages. Dissolved and particulate Si phases reflect the dominant control of biological uptake, and combined with isotopic fractionation were consistent with a season of low/intermediate productivity.Biogenic Si is tightly coupled to both chlorophyll and particulate organic carbon at the sampling site, consistent with diatom-dominated phytoplankton assemblages along the WAP. Variability in diatom speciation has a negligible impact on the isotopic signature of dissolved Si in surface waters, although this is unlikely to hold for sediments due to differential dissolution of diatom species. A continued decline in diatom productivity along the WAP would likely result in an increasing unused Si inventory, which can potentially feed back into Si-limited areas, promoting diatom growth and carbon drawdown further afield.

A high resolution time-series analysis of stable carbon isotopic signatures in particulate organic carbon (δ13CPOC) and associated biogeochemical parameters in sea ice and surface waters provides an insight into the factors affecting δ13CPOC in the coastal western Antarctic Peninsula sea ice environment. The study covers two austral summer seasons in Ryder Bay, northern Marguerite Bay between 2004 and 2006. A shift in diatom species composition during the 2005/06 summer bloom to near-complete biomass dominance of Proboscia inermis is strongly correlated with a large ~10 ‰ negative isotopic shift in δ13CPOC that cannot be explained by a concurrent change in concentration or isotopic signature of CO2. We hypothesise that the δ13CPOC shift may be driven by the contrasting biochemical mechanisms and utilisation of carbon-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) in different diatom species. Specifically, very low δ13CPOC in P. inermis may be caused by the lack of a CCM, whilst some diatom species abundant at times of higher δ13CPOC may employ CCMs. These short-lived yet pronounced negative δ13CPOC excursions drive a 4 ‰ decrease in the seasonal average δ13CPOC signal, which is transferred to sediment traps and core-top sediments and consequently has the potential for preservation in the sedimentary record. This 4 ‰ difference between seasons of contrasting sea ice conditions and upper water column stratification matches the full amplitude of glacial-interglacial Southern Ocean δ13CPOC variability and, as such, we invoke phytoplankton species changes as a potentially important factor influencing sedimentary δ13CPOC. We also find significantly higher δ13CPOC in sea ice than surface waters, consistent with autotrophic carbon fixation in a semi-closed environment and possible contributions from post-production degradation, biological utilisation of HCO3− and production of exopolymeric substances. This study demonstrates the importance of surface water diatom speciation effects and isotopically heavy sea ice-derived material for δ13CPOC in Antarctic coastal environments and underlying sediments, with consequences for the utility of diatom-based δ13CPOC in the sedimentary record.

article i nfo Article history: Iron(Fe)isanessentialmicronutrientforphytoplankton,andisscarceinmanyregionsincludingtheopenSouth- ern Ocean. The western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), an important source region of Fe to the wider Southern Ocean, is also the fastest warming region of the Southern Hemisphere. The relative importance of glacial versus marine Fe sources is currently poorly constrained, hindering projections of how changing oceanic circulation, productivity, and glacial dynamics may affect the balance of Fe sources in this region. Dissolved and total dissolvable Fe concentrations were measured throughout the summer bloom period at a coastalsiteontheWAP.Ironinputstothesurfacemixedlayerinearlysummerwerestronglycorrelatedwithme- teoric meltwaterfrom glaciers and precipitation. A significant sourceof Fe fromunderlying waters wasalso iden- tified, with dissolved Fe concentrations of up to 9.5 nM at 200 m depth. These two primary Fe sources act on different timescales, with glacial sources supplying Fe during the warm summer growing period, and deep water replenishing Fe over annual periods via deep winter mixing. Iron supply from deep water is sufficient to meet biological demand relative to macronutrient supply, making Fe limitation unlikely in this area even without additional summer Fe inputs from glacial sources. Both glacial and deep-water Fe sources may increase with continued climate warming, potentially enhancing the role of the WAP as an Fe source to offshore waters. © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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J., LIMNOLOGY O IN PRESS Wallace MI, 2008, DEEP-SEA RES PT II, V55, P2023, DOI 10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.04.033 Annett, Amber L. Henley, Sian F. Van Beek, Pieter Souhaut, Marc Ganeshram, Raja Venables, Hugh J. Meredith, Michael P. Geibert, Walter Antarctic Science Bursary; National Environment Research Council, UK; British Council-EGIDE ALLIANCE/Franco-British Research Partnership Programme; NSERC; University of Edinburgh The authors would like to thank the Rothera Research Station marine staff, in particular Danny Edmunds, for help with sample collection, and the British Antarctic Survey for logistical support. Jan Scholten at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Monaco kindly provided standards, and helpful discussion regarding methodology. The editor (L. Padman) and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments to improve the manuscript. This work was supported by an Antarctic Science Bursary, Collaborative Gearing Scheme funding (through the National Environment Research Council, UK), the British Council-EGIDE ALLIANCE/Franco-British Research Partnership Programme, an NSERC scholarship and the University of Edinburgh. 3 CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS NEW YORK ANTARCT SCI; In the western Antarctic Peninsula region, micronutrient injection facilitates strong plankton blooms that support productive food webs, unlike large areas of the low-productivity Southern Ocean. We use naturally occurring radioisotopes of radium to constrain rates of chemical fluxes into Ryder Bay (a small coastal embayment in northern Marguerite Bay), and hence to evaluate possible sources of sediment-derived micronutrients and estimate sediment-ocean mixing rates. 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Significant radium enrichment and much faster mixing (18m(2) s(-1)) was found near a marine-terminating glacier and consequently any sediment-derived micronutrient inputs in this location are more probably dominated by glacial processes than groundwater, land runoff, or marine sediment sources.

Preservation of seawater samples was tested for total inorganic carbon (∑CO2), stable carbon isotope (δ13C), and radiocarbon (14C) applications using foil bags and storage by refrigeration and freezing. The aim was to preserve representative samples with minimal storage effects but without using toxic methods such as mercuric chloride poisoning. Hydrolysis of samples to CO2 was based on existing methods. Results of IAEA-C2 standard used with deionized water stored in the foil bags showed complete reaction yields, 14C results within 2σ of the consensus value, and δ13C that were internally consistent, indicating that there were no procedural effects associated with the foil bags. 14C results were statistically indistinguishable across the storage times, for frozen and refrigerated seawater samples from a coastal site, Elie Ness, Fife, UK. The scatter of ∑CO2 concentrations and δ13C was within scatter observed in other studies for lake- and seawater samples preserved by acidification or using mercuric chloride. However, both ∑CO2 and δ13C were less variable for frozen samples compared with refrigerated samples. The foil bags are lighter, safer to transport, and similar in cost to glass bottles and allow sample collection in the field and transfer to the hydrolysis vessel without exposure of the sample to atmosphere. Storage of seawater samples in the foil bags was considered a reliable, alternative method to poisoning for ∑CO2, δ13C, and 14C, and freezing the samples is recommended for storage time beyond a week.

NetCDF Files to accompany manuscript submitted to GRL.