Major nutrients and dissolved oxygen as indicators of the frontal zones in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean

Abstract

The chemical tracers of the main frontal zones of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean are considered. Before the beginning of the spring bloom, frontal zones are distinguished by lateral gradients of dissolved oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, and silicate. During the spring bloom, the smoothing of nutrient concentrations on both sides of the fronts weakens lateral gradients of chemical properties. The position of surface gradients of nutrients within the Subtropical Frontal Zone (STFZ) does not coincide with the location of temperature and salinity gradients. As a result, fronts in this region have a stepped character. The best chemical indicator of the Northern STFZ front is the dissolved oxygen gradient, which coincides with the temperature and salinity gradients. The southern boundary of the STFZ is distinguished by the gradient of nitrate. The chemical criterion for identifying the Subantarctic Front is the gradient of oxygen, which ranges from 0.5 to 4.0 μmol kg−1 per km; the Polar Front is identified by the gradient of silicate (0.56 to 2.78 μM per km). At the surface, the Weddell‐Scotia Confluence (WSC) is distinguished not by the temperature and salinity, but by chemical parameters: The best year‐round criterion is the lateral gradient of silicate‐to‐phosphate atomic ratio, which ranges from 25 to 35. Other markers of the WSC are the gradients of silicate at the surface, oxygen at the upper boundary of the Circumpolar Deep Water, and the depths of its location.