Biogeochemical features of the distribution of organic compounds and particulate matter in the snow-ice cover in East Antarctica

Abstract

The distribution of particulate organic carbon Corg (bulk contents of organic compounds), chlorophyll a, lipids, and hydrocarbons (in dissolved and particulate forms), as well as particulate matter in snow, ice, and under-ice water was analyzed in the coastal areas of the Community and Lazarev seas (March–April, 2010, 2012). The differences in the accumulation of the studied compounds depend on the physical conditions of the ice formation and biogeochemical processes at the snow-ice and ice-water interfaces. The H2S contamination in association with extremely high contents of the studied organic compounds was established for the first time in the lower succession of multiyear ice, beneath a thick firn layer. It was shown that the conditions of formation of snow-ice cover define the vertical distribution of not only physical but also biogeochemical parameters.