Sea ice variability and primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, from methylsulphonate snow record

Rachael H. Rhodes; Nancy A. N. Bertler; Joel A. Baker; Sharon B. Sneed; Hans Oerter; Kevin R. Arrigo

doi:10.1029/2009GL037311

Sea ice variability and primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, from methylsulphonate snow record

Rachael H. Rhodes, Nancy A. N. Bertler, Joel A. Baker, Sharon B. Sneed, Hans Oerter, Kevin R. Arrigo

Geography and Environmental Sciences Department

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Ross Sea contains the most biologically productive continental shelf in Antarctica and is a region where the annual formation of sea ice drives substantial amounts of bottom water formation. We present snow pit chemistry data from Mt Erebus Saddle that provide a quantitative proxy to reconstruct summer sea ice conditions and rates of marine primary production. The methylsulphonate (MS) record is strongly correlated with changes in the area of open water (R2 = 0.903, p < 0.05) caused by differences in atmospheric circulation and the sea‐ice‐damming effect of large icebergs, B‐15 and C‐19, which calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Furthermore, MS and phytoplankton net primary production correlate significantly (R2 = 0.927, p < 0.01). Our results demonstrate the potential of the Mt Erebus Saddle ice core to reconstruct sea ice and primary productivity variability in the Ross Sea beyond the observational record.

Original language	English
Article number	L10704
Number of pages	5
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	36
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037311
Publication status	Published - 23 May 2009

Keywords

Ross Sea
primary production
ice cores

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1029/2009GL037311

Cite this

@article{b1b4397e412947c1a511a15460156c87,

title = "Sea ice variability and primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, from methylsulphonate snow record",

abstract = "The Ross Sea contains the most biologically productive continental shelf in Antarctica and is a region where the annual formation of sea ice drives substantial amounts of bottom water formation. We present snow pit chemistry data from Mt Erebus Saddle that provide a quantitative proxy to reconstruct summer sea ice conditions and rates of marine primary production. The methylsulphonate (MS) record is strongly correlated with changes in the area of open water (R2 = 0.903, p < 0.05) caused by differences in atmospheric circulation and the sea‐ice‐damming effect of large icebergs, B‐15 and C‐19, which calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Furthermore, MS and phytoplankton net primary production correlate significantly (R2 = 0.927, p < 0.01). Our results demonstrate the potential of the Mt Erebus Saddle ice core to reconstruct sea ice and primary productivity variability in the Ross Sea beyond the observational record.",

keywords = "Ross Sea, primary production, ice cores",

author = "Rhodes, {Rachael H.} and Bertler, {Nancy A. N.} and Baker, {Joel A.} and Sneed, {Sharon B.} and Hans Oerter and Arrigo, {Kevin R.}",

year = "2009",

month = may,

day = "23",

doi = "10.1029/2009GL037311",

language = "English",

volume = "36",

journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

issn = "0094-8276",

publisher = "American Geophysical Union",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sea ice variability and primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, from methylsulphonate snow record

AU - Rhodes, Rachael H.

AU - Bertler, Nancy A. N.

AU - Baker, Joel A.

AU - Sneed, Sharon B.

AU - Oerter, Hans

AU - Arrigo, Kevin R.

PY - 2009/5/23

Y1 - 2009/5/23

N2 - The Ross Sea contains the most biologically productive continental shelf in Antarctica and is a region where the annual formation of sea ice drives substantial amounts of bottom water formation. We present snow pit chemistry data from Mt Erebus Saddle that provide a quantitative proxy to reconstruct summer sea ice conditions and rates of marine primary production. The methylsulphonate (MS) record is strongly correlated with changes in the area of open water (R2 = 0.903, p < 0.05) caused by differences in atmospheric circulation and the sea‐ice‐damming effect of large icebergs, B‐15 and C‐19, which calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Furthermore, MS and phytoplankton net primary production correlate significantly (R2 = 0.927, p < 0.01). Our results demonstrate the potential of the Mt Erebus Saddle ice core to reconstruct sea ice and primary productivity variability in the Ross Sea beyond the observational record.

AB - The Ross Sea contains the most biologically productive continental shelf in Antarctica and is a region where the annual formation of sea ice drives substantial amounts of bottom water formation. We present snow pit chemistry data from Mt Erebus Saddle that provide a quantitative proxy to reconstruct summer sea ice conditions and rates of marine primary production. The methylsulphonate (MS) record is strongly correlated with changes in the area of open water (R2 = 0.903, p < 0.05) caused by differences in atmospheric circulation and the sea‐ice‐damming effect of large icebergs, B‐15 and C‐19, which calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Furthermore, MS and phytoplankton net primary production correlate significantly (R2 = 0.927, p < 0.01). Our results demonstrate the potential of the Mt Erebus Saddle ice core to reconstruct sea ice and primary productivity variability in the Ross Sea beyond the observational record.

KW - Ross Sea

KW - primary production

KW - ice cores

U2 - 10.1029/2009GL037311

DO - 10.1029/2009GL037311

M3 - Article

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 36

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

M1 - L10704

ER -

Sea ice variability and primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, from methylsulphonate snow record

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this