Antarctic sea ice carbon dioxide system and controls

Abstract

[1] In austral summer, from December 2008 to January 2009, we investigated the sea-ice carbon dioxide (CO2) system and CO2 controls in the Amundsen and Ross Seas, Antarctica. We sampled seawater, brine and sea ice for the measurements of total alkalinity (AT), total inorganic carbon (DIC), pH, inorganic nutrients, particulate organic carbon (POC) and nitrogen (PON), chlorophyll a, pigments, salinity and temperature. Large variability in all measured parameters was observed in time and space due to the complex sea-ice dynamics. We discuss the controls of the sea-ice CO2 system, such as brine rejection, biological processes, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation/dissolution and CO2 exchange. Most (80 to 90%) of the DIC loss was due to brine rejection, which suggests that the sea ice acted as an efficient DIC sink from 0.8 and 2.6 mol m−2 yr−1 (9.6–31 g C m−2 yr−1). The remaining change in DIC was to a large extent explained by net biological production. The AT:DIC ratio in the sea ice was higher than in the under-ice water (UIW), with ratios reaching 1.7, which indicated CaCO3 precipitation and concomitant DIC loss in the sea ice. Elevated AT:DIC ratios and carbonate concentrations were also observed in the UIW, which reflect the solid CaCO3 rejected from the ice during melt. The potential for uptake of atmospheric CO2 in the mixed layer increased by approximately 56 μatm due to the combined effect of CaCO3 precipitation during ice formation, and ice melt in summer.