Southern Ocean Water Masses Research Articles

Radiolarian assemblages related to the ocean–ice interaction around the East Antarctic coast

Abstract. The Southern Ocean plays a central role in Earth's climate, ecology, and biogeochemical cycles. Therefore, understanding long-term changes in Southern Ocean water masses in the geologic past is essential for assessing the role of the Southern Ocean in the climate system. Radiolarian fossils are a useful tool to reconstruct the water masses of the Southern Ocean. However, the radiolarian assemblages in the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean (south of the polar front (PF)) are still poorly understood. In this paper, we report the radiolarian assemblages in surface marine sediment and plankton tow samples collected from the high latitudes south of the PF. In the surface sediments, four factors (named F1–F4) of the radiolarian assemblages were identified using Q-mode factor analysis, which are related to different water masses and hydrological conditions. F1 is related to the surface waters south of the southern boundary (SB) of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which are cooled by melting sea ice and ice sheets. F2 is associated with water masses north of the SB. A comparison with the vertical distribution of the radiolarian assemblages in plankton tow samples indicates that characteristic species are associated with the Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and surface waters north of the SB. F3 is associated with modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW). The radiolarian assemblage of F4 does not seem specifically related to any of the water mass here analyzed. However, the species in this assemblage are typically dwells within ice shelf and/or sea ice edge environments. Radiolarian assemblages here identified and associated with water masses, and ice edge environments are useful to reconstruct the environment south of the PF in the geologic past.

Biological, Physical, and Atmospheric Controls on the Distribution of Cadmium and Its Isotopes in the Pacific Ocean

AbstractDespite the Pacific being the location of the earliest seawater Cd studies, the processes which control Cd distributions in this region remain incompletely understood, largely due to the sparsity of data. Here, we present dissolved Cd and δ114Cd data from the US GEOTRACES GP15 meridional transect along 152°W from the Alaskan margin to the equatorial Pacific. Our examination of this region's surface ocean Cd isotope systematics is consistent with previous observations, showing a stark disparity between northern Cd‐rich high‐nutrient low‐chlorophyll waters and Cd‐depleted waters of the subtropical and equatorial Pacific. Away from the margin, an open system model ably describes data in Cd‐depleted surface waters, but atmospheric inputs of isotopically light Cd likely play an important role in setting surface Cd isotope ratios (δ114Cd) at the lowest Cd concentrations. Below the surface, Southern Ocean processes and water mass mixing are the dominant control on Pacific Cd and δ114Cd distributions. Cd‐depleted Antarctic Intermediate Water has a far‐reaching effect on North Pacific intermediate waters as far as 47°N, contrasting with northern‐sourced Cd signatures in North Pacific Intermediate Water. Finally, we show that the previously identified negative Cd* signal at depth in the North Pacific is associated with the PO4 maximum and is thus a consequence of an integrated regeneration signal of Cd and PO4 at a slightly lower Cd:P ratio than the deep ocean ratio (0.35 mmol mol−1), rather than being related to in situ removal processes in low‐oxygen waters.

Interactions of bioactive trace metals in shipboard Southern Ocean incubation experiments

AbstractIn the Southern Ocean, it is well‐known that iron (Fe) limits phytoplankton growth. Yet, other trace metals can also affect phytoplankton physiology. This study investigated feedbacks between phytoplankton growth and dissolved Fe, manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and cadmium (Cd) concentrations in Southern Ocean shipboard incubations. Three experiments were conducted in September–October 2016 near the West Antarctic Peninsula: Incubations 1 and 3 offshore in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and Incubation 2 inshore in Bransfield Strait. Additions of Fe and/or vitamin B12 to inshore and offshore waters were employed and allowed assessment of metal (M) uptake relative to soluble reactive phosphorus (P) across a wide range of initial conditions. Offshore, treatments of >1 nmol L−1 added Fe were Fe‐replete, whereas inshore waters were already Fe‐replete. Results suggest Mn was a secondary limiting nutrient inshore and offshore. No Fe‐vitamin B12 colimitation was observed. Overall, M:P uptake in the incubations was closely related to initial dissolved M:P for Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, and Cd, and for Cu inshore. Final concentrations of Fe and Zn were similar across light treatments of the experiments despite very different phytoplankton responses, and we observed evidence for Co/Cd/Zn substitution and for recycling of biogenic metals as inventories plateaued. In dark bottles, the absence of Mn oxidation may have allowed more efficient recycling of Fe and other trace metals. Our results provide insight into factors governing trace metal uptake, with implications for phytoplankton community composition locally and preformed micronutrient bioavailability in Southern Ocean water masses.

Diagnosing CO2 emission-induced feedbacks between the Southern Ocean carbon cycle and the climate system: A multiple Earth System Model analysis using a water mass tracking approach

AbstractAnthropogenic CO2emission-induced feedbacks between the carbon cycle and the climate system perturb the efficiency of atmospheric CO2uptake by land and ocean carbon reservoirs. The Southern Ocean is a region where these feedbacks can be largest and differ most among Earth System Model projections of 21stcentury climate change. To improve our mechanistic understanding of these feedbacks, we develop an automated procedure that tracks changes in the positions of Southern Ocean water masses and their carbon uptake. In an idealised ensemble of climate change projections, we diagnose two carbon–concentration feedbacks driven by atmospheric CO2(due to increasing air-sea CO2partial pressure difference,dpCO2, and reducing carbonate buffering capacity) and two carbon–climate feedbacks driven by climate change (due to changes in the water mass surface outcrop areas and local climate impacts). Collectively these feedbacks increase the CO2uptake by the Southern Ocean and account for one-fifth of the global uptake of CO2emissions. The increase in CO2uptake is primarily dpCO2-driven, with Antarctic intermediate waters making the largest contribution; the remaining three feedbacks partially offset this increase (by ~25%), with maximum reductions in Subantarctic mode waters. The process dominating the decrease in CO2uptake is water mass-dependent: reduction in carbonate buffering capacity in Subtropical and Subantarctic mode waters, local climate impacts in Antarctic intermediate waters, and reduction in outcrop areas in circumpolar deep waters and Antarctic bottom waters. Intermodel variability in the feedbacks is predominatelydpCO2–driven and should be a focus of efforts to constrain projection uncertainty.

North Atlantic Deep Water during Pleistocene interglacials and glacials

The global ocean overturning circulation is a major means of distributing heat around the Earth, and an important trigger or amplifier of climate change. This study presents a 1.5-Myr-long neodymium (Nd) isotope record of Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 607, in the core of present-day North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), the water mass that drives the overturning circulation and its Atlantic end-member (Broecker, 1991; Gordon, 1991), in order to document its composition through time. This time interval is marked by major changes in fundamental aspects of the Earth's climate, including the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) from ∼41-kyr to ∼100-kyr interglacial-glacial cycles and more intense glacials. The new record, mainly focusing on interglacial and glacial peaks, shows a pattern that mimics the record of benthic foraminiferal δ18O (Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005) in that the magnitude of interglacial-glacial Nd isotope shifts were smaller in the 41-kyr world than in the 100-kyr world. During the “900 ka event” (Clark et al., 2006), between ∼960 and 860 ka, marking the first 100-kyr interglacial-glacial cycle, the Nd isotope ratios shift abruptly to higher values, consistent with increased incursion of Southern Ocean water masses into the deep North Atlantic. This pattern was previously observed in the South Atlantic over the same time interval and interpreted as a weakened presence of NADW signal that reflected a period of disrupted deep ocean overturning circulation, termed the “MPT-AMOC crisis” (Pena and Goldstein, 2014). The Site 607 data support this interpretation and show the effects to be basin-wide. Following the disruption, an enhanced southern-sourced Nd isotope signature remained for ∼200 kyr during the period of “lukewarm interglacials” (Howe and Piotrowski, 2017; Jaccard et al., 2013), consistent with weaker overturning circulation. With the exception of this “MPT-AMOC crisis and recovery” interval, the Nd isotope ratios during interglacial peaks have been similar to present-day NADW, indicating similar interglacial North Atlantic ocean circulation dynamics both before and after the MPT. This contrasts with the pattern during glacial periods of the 100-kyr world, during which Nd isotopes have continued to follow the pattern of the 900-kyr event indicating a strong southern water mass signal, interpreted as intensified incursions of Southern Ocean water into the deep North Atlantic and consistent with a generally weaker overturning circulation during glacials.

Late Quaternary high-resolution seismic stratigraphy and core-based paleoenvironmental reconstructions in Ona Basin, southwestern Scotia Sea (Antarctica)

The variability of sedimentation patterns and processes driven by late Quaternary glacial-interglacial paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic changes are investigated in Ona Basin, southwestern Scotia Sea. The interest of this area lies in the fact that the nearby Antarctic Peninsula has recorded extreme climatic variability, and the Drake Passage-Scotia Sea oceanic domain is influenced by two major Southern Ocean water masses, the eastward-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the westward-flowing Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW). These goals are achieved through the examination of a grid of very high-resolution sub-bottom profiles and two gravity cores collected in Ona Basin. Multi-proxy data derived from the gravity cores include 14C-derived ages, descriptions of sedimentary units and diatom assemblages, and continuous logging of physical properties and micro-XRF core scanning.The sub-surface seismic stratigraphy is composed of four seismic units (U4 to U1) with a dominant sub-parallel configuration, with local occurrence of wavy facies and intercalations of transparent seismic facies. Additionally, four sedimentary units were recognized through sediment core analysis from bottom to top: Unit IV is composed of slightly bioturbated diatom-rich mud and silty mud with sparse ice-rafted debris (IRDs); Unit III is composed of gravelly silty to sandy mud with large amounts of IRDs; Unit II mostly contains bioturbated diatomaceous mud; and Unit I is composed of diatom-rich silty to sandy mud. The highest diatom abundances are found in Unit II, whereas highly variable abundances are found in Unit IV. The most common diatoms are Fragilariopsis kerguelensis and Chaetoceros subg. Hyalochaete. Overall, these characteristics document a change in the depositional style from terrigenous during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to hemipelagic sedimentation during the deglaciation.The high-resolution seismic stratigraphy analysis reveals significant fluctuations in the regional bottom-current patterns during the late Quaternary (i.e., after 0.4 Ma) glacial-interglacial cycles. An overall strengthening of the westward-flowing WSDW is postulated in relation to latitudinal displacements of the interphase between the deeper ACC and the WSDW, together with enhanced interactions between along- and downslope processes. In addition, sedimentological, geochemical, and micropaleontological analyses revealed two distinctive phases during the late Pleistocene, in terms of paleoenvironments and paleoceanographic conditions. During the LGM, extensive sea-ice coverage limited biogenic productivity in the ocean. Increased terrigenous input was largely supplied by the westward-flowing WSDW, under a reduced ACC influence due to the northward location of fronts. During deglaciation, the sediment record indicates reduced sea-ice cover and increased open-ocean conditions and surface water productivity, as well as a long-term intensification of the WSDW flow. We postulate bottom-current strengthening was driven by an increased Weddell Sea water export and the southward migration of fronts as a consequence of major retreat of sea ice, enhancing the ACC influence in the southern Ona Basin, and thus, affecting the sloping interphase between the deeper ACC and the WSDW.

A Next Generation Ocean Carbon Isotope Model for Climate Studies I: Steady State Controls on Ocean 13C

AbstractThe 13C/12C of dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC) carries valuable information on ocean biological C‐cycling, air‐sea CO2 exchange, and circulation. Paleo‐reconstructions of oceanic 13C from sediment cores provide key insights into past as changes in these three drivers. As a step toward full inclusion of 13C in the next generation of Earth system models, we implemented 13C‐cycling in a 1° lateral resolution ocean‐ice‐biogeochemistry Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) model driven by Common Ocean Reference Experiment perpetual year forcing. The model improved the mean of modern δ13CDIC over coarser resolution GFDL‐model implementations, capturing the Southern Ocean decline in surface δ13CDIC that propagates to the deep sea via deep water formation. Controls on δ13CDIC of the deep‐sea are quantified using both observations and model output. The biological control is estimated from the relationship between deep‐sea Pacific δ13CDIC and phosphate (PO4). The δ13CDIC:PO4 slope from observations is revised to a value of 1.01 ± 0.02‰ (μmol kg−1)−1, consistent with a carbon to phosphate ratio of organic matter (C:Porg) of 124 ± 10. Model output yields a lower δ13CDIC:PO4 than observed due to too low C:Porg. The ocean circulation impacts deep modern δ13CDIC in two ways, via the relative proportion of Southern Ocean and North Atlantic deep water masses, and via the preindustrial δ13CDIC of these water mass endmembers. The δ13CDIC of the endmembers ventilating the deep sea are shown to be highly sensitive to the wind speed dependence of air‐sea CO2 gas exchange. Reducing the coefficient for air‐sea gas exchange following OMIP‐CMIP6 protocols improves significantly surface δ13CDIC relative to previous gas exchange parameterizations.

Human-induced changes to the global ocean water masses and their time of emergence

The World Ocean is rapidly changing, with global and regional modification of temperature and salinity, resulting in widespread and irreversible impacts. While the most pronounced observed temperature and salinity changes are located in the upper ocean, changes in water masses at depth have been identified and will probably strengthen in the future. Here, using 11 climate models, we define when anthropogenic temperature and salinity changes are expected to emerge from natural variability in the ocean interior along density surfaces. The models predict that in 2020, 20–55% of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian basins have an emergent anthropogenic signal; reaching 40–65% in 2050 and 55–80% in 2080. The well-ventilated Southern Ocean water masses emerge very rapidly, as early as the 1980–1990s, while the Northern Hemisphere water masses emerge in the 2010–2030s. Our results highlight the importance of maintaining and augmenting an ocean observing system capable of detecting and monitoring persistent anthropogenic changes.

Upwelling characteristics and nutrient enrichment of the Kangaroo Island upwelling region, South Australia

An analysis is presented of hydrographic and nutrient data collected over three years for the Kangaroo Island upwelling region, Lincoln Shelf, South Australia, to determine the signature of upwelled water, depth of upwelling and the source water mass being brought onto the shelf. Strong upwelling seasons were recorded during the 2007–2008 and 2009–2010 summers, while the summer of 2008–2009 had only one weak upwelling event. Strong upwelling events during February and March 2008 and February and March 2010 recorded temperatures and salinities as low as 10.4°C and 34.85, and NOx and phosphate concentrations as high as 13.35 and 0.94 μmol/L, respectively, at 105 m on the shelf. Upwelled water properties matched slope water properties between 240 and 370 m, indicating water can be upwelled over depths of 200 m or more. Upwelling from these depths sources South Australian Basin Central Water of Southern Ocean origin, which is transported west along the slope by the Flinders Current System. New results for nutrients show average values of NOx and phosphate during months of strong upwelling to be 6.1 times and 4.6 times greater, respectively, than during winter months, and that upwelled water can have nutrient concentrations up to 90 times higher than those in summer surface waters. Strong relationships between temperature and nutrients on the slope can help estimate nutrient concentrations supplied to the shelf during upwelling events. Upwelled water was also low in silicate, a signature of Southern Ocean water masses, which has implications for phytoplankton community structure and diatom abundance on the shelf.

Tracking the spread of a passive tracer through Southern Ocean water masses

Abstract. A dynamically passive inert tracer was released in the interior South Pacific Ocean at latitudes of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Observational cross sections of the tracer were taken over 4 consecutive years as it drifted through Drake Passage and into the Atlantic Ocean. The tracer was released within a region of high salinity relative to surrounding waters at the same density. In the absence of irreversible mixing a tracer remains at constant salinity and temperature on an isopycnal surface. To investigate the process of irreversible mixing we analysed the tracer in potential density-versus-salinity-anomaly coordinates. Observations of high tracer concentration tended to be collocated with isopycnal salinity anomalies. With time, an initially narrow peak in tracer concentration as a function of salinity at constant density broadened with the tracer being found at ever fresher salinities, consistent with diffusion-like behaviour in that coordinate system. The second moment of the tracer as a function of salinity suggested an initial period of slow spreading for approximately 2 years in the Pacific, followed by more rapid spreading as the tracer entered Drake Passage and the Scotia Sea. Analysis of isopycnal salinity gradients based on the Argo programme suggests that part of this apparent change can be explained by changes in background salinity gradients while part may be explained by the evolution of the tracer patch from a slowly growing phase where the tracer forms filaments to a more rapid phase where the tracer mixes at 240–550 m2 s−1.

Varied contribution of the Southern Ocean to deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise

Glacial–interglacial changes in atmospheric CO2 are generally attributed to changes in seawater carbon chemistry in response to large-scale shifts in the ocean’s biogeochemistry and general circulation. The Southern Ocean currently takes up more CO2 than any other and it is likely to have played a crucial role in regulating past atmospheric CO2. However, the physical, biological and chemical variables that control ocean–atmosphere CO2 exchange during glacial–interglacial cycles are not completely understood. Here we use boron isotopes and carbon isotopes in planktonic foraminifera and an alkenone-based proxy of temperature to reconstruct seawater pH and CO2 partial pressure in sub-Antarctic surface waters south of Tasmania over the past 25,000 years, and investigate the mechanisms that regulate seawater CO2. The new record shows that surface waters in this region were a sink for atmospheric CO2 during the Last Glacial Maximum. Our reconstruction suggests changes in the strength of the biological pump and the release of deep-ocean CO2 to surface waters contributed to the last deglacial rise in atmospheric CO2. These findings demonstrate that variations in upwelling intensity and the distribution of Southern Ocean water masses in this sector played a key role in regulating atmospheric CO2 during the last glacial–interglacial cycle.

Combined effects of ocean acidification and increased light intensity on natural phytoplankton communities from two Southern Ocean water masses

Combined effects of ocean acidification and increased light intensity on natural phytoplankton communities from two Southern Ocean water masses

The Relationships Between Dissolved Zinc and Major Nutrients Phosphate and Silicate Along the GEOTRACES GA02 Transect in the West Atlantic Ocean

AbstractDissolved zinc (Zn) has a nutrient‐type distribution in the ocean that more closely resembles the distribution of silicate (Si) than phosphate (PO4). However, Zn is a trace‐nutrient and mostly present in the organic fraction of phytoplankton rather than the siliceous frustule. It has been suggested the coupling of Zn and Si is caused by the strong depletion of nutrients in the Southern Ocean, possibly combined with scavenging of Zn. Here we assess the distribution of Zn and nutrients along the conduit of southward traveling waters of northern origin and northward traveling waters of Antarctic origin to unravel the influence of various water masses and local biogeochemical processes in the Atlantic Ocean. The distribution of Zn and Si is governed by mixing such that influence of remineralization is barely distinguishable, whereas the distribution of PO4 is influenced by both processes. The subsurface water masses that supply nutrients to the surface ocean are depleted in Zn. Indeed, the Southern Ocean water masses play a driving role, but remarkably, also subsurface water masses from northern high‐latitude origin are depleted in Zn. Both northern and southern high‐latitude waters have a relatively high Zn:PO4 uptake and remineralization ratio, implying it is Zn availability and not only chronic iron limitation that leads to increased Zn uptake in the high‐latitude regions. The limited supply of Zn to the surface Atlantic Ocean can explain the lack of an Atlantic Zn remineralization signal and indicates Zn might play a role in phytoplankton community composition and productivity.

Phytoplankton response in growth, photophysiology and community structure to iron and light in the Polar Frontal Zone and Antarctic waters

Availability of dissolved iron and light are both regulating factors for primary productivity in high (macro)nutrient, low chlorophyll regions of the Southern Ocean. Here, using on-board iron/light incubation experiments conducted in 2015 in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, we show that irradiance limited significant phytoplankton growth (in chlorophyll-a and particulate organic carbon) north of the Polar Front (46 °S 08 °E), while iron addition resulted in growth stimulation even at low light levels in the Antarctic zone (65 °S 0 °E). The phytoplankton community in the Polar Frontal Zone showed a greater functional diversity than the one in the Antarctic Zone. The community structure changed over the course of the incubations in response to increased iron and light. The observed increase in chlorophyll-a under high light in the Polar Frontal Zone was driven predominantly by an increase in pico-(0.2–2 µm) and large (> 5 µm) nanophytoplankton. Pigment fingerprinting indicated an increase in the contribution of diatoms and Phaeocystis over the course of the incubation. In contrast, in the Antarctic Zone, the increase in chlorophyll-a after iron enrichment was predominantly due to an increase in the contribution of diatoms and large nanophytoplankton. The photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) was low at both sites at the beginning of the incubations, but increased upon iron fertilization in both water masses, indicating stress relief. However, the acclimation strategies fundamentally differed between the two communities. The ratio of photoprotective versus light-harvesting pigments increased under high light in the Polar Frontal Zone independent of iron enrichment, whereas this ratio declined upon iron enrichment in the Antarctic Zone even under high light. At the same time, the functional cross section of photosystem II (σPSII) decreased upon iron enrichment in the Antarctic Zone, but not in the Polar Frontal Zone. Our experiments support the need to take biogeographical differences between Southern Ocean water masses into account when interpreting ecosystem dynamics.

Diversity and community composition of particle‐associated and free‐living bacteria in mesopelagic and bathypelagic Southern Ocean water masses: Evidence of dispersal limitation in the Bransfield Strait

AbstractThe Southern Ocean constitutes about 10% of the global oceans' volume and is characterized by high primary production. Particulate organic matter (POM) is exported from the photic zone to the deep ocean and sustains life of particle associated (PA) and free‐living (FL) bacterial communities in the dark realm. Little is known about the composition and diversity of PA and FL bacterial communities below the photic zone and how they differ among various regions of the Southern Ocean. Therefore, we investigated the composition of small (3–8 μm) and large (> 8 μm) PA and FL (0.2–3 μm) bacterial communities between 500 m and 3600 m in the Bransfield Strait, Drake Passage, and the south Atlantic Ocean featuring also Southern Ocean water masses. PA bacterial communities had a higher OTU richness and evenness than FL ones. Taxonomic analysis revealed a different community composition between FL and PA bacteria. A large number of OTUs belonging to diverse phyla (Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, Betaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia) were significantly enriched on particles; in contrast very few bacterial lineages were FL specialists. Life‐style (FL vs. PA) and region (Bransfield basin vs. other regions) strongly influenced bacterial communities. Depth explained only marginal fraction of the total variation (∼ 12%), suggesting that selective processes driven by depth have a smaller effect in the Southern Ocean when compared to life‐style (25%) and region (31%). Overall these data indicate a strong influence of isolated water masses such as the basin of the Bransfield Strait on the composition of bacterial communities in the dark ocean.

Ferrioxamine Siderophores Detected amongst Iron Binding Ligands Produced during the Remineralization of Marine Particles

The microbial degradation of marine particles is an important process in the remineralization of nutrients including iron. As part of the GEOTRACES process study (FeCycle II), we conducted incubation experiments with marine particles obtained from 30 and 100 m depth at two stations during austral spring in the subtropical waters east of the North Island of New Zealand. The particles were collected using in-situ pumps, and comprised mainly of suspended and slow sinking populations along with associated attached heterotrophic bacteria. In treatments with live bacteria, increasing concentrations of Fe binding ligands were observed with an average stability constant of logKFeL,Fe3+ = 21.11±0.37 for station 1 and 20.89±0.25 for station 2. The ligand release rates varied between 2.54 and 11.8 pmol L-1 d-1 (calculated for ambient seawater particle concentration) and were similar to those found in two Southern Ocean subsurface studies from ~110 m depths in subpolar and polar waters. Dissolved iron (DFe) was released at a rate between 0.33 and 2.09 pmol Fe L-1 d-1 with a column integrated (30 -100 m) flux of 107 and 58 nmol Fe m-2 day-1 at station 1 and 2, respectively. Given a mixed layer DFe inventory of ~48 µmol m-2 and ~4 µmol m-2 at the time of sampling for station 1 and 2, this will therefore result in a DFe residence time of 1.2 and 0.18 years, assuming particle remineralization was the only source of iron in the mixed layer. The DFe release rates calculated were comparable to those found in the previously mentioned study of Southern Ocean water masses. Fe-binding ligand producing bacteria (CAS positive) abundance was found to increase throughout the duration of the experiment of 7 to 8 days. For the first time ferrioxamine type siderophores, including the well-known ferrioxamine B and G, have been quantified using chemical assays and LC-ESI-MS. Our subtropical study corroborates prior reports from the Southern Ocean of particle remineralization being an important source of DFe and ligands, and adds unprecedented detail by revealing that siderophores are probably an important component of the ligands released into subsurface waters during particle remineralisation.

Ice shelf basal melt rates around Antarctica from simulations and observations

AbstractWe introduce an explicit representation of Antarctic ice shelf cavities in the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II (ECCO2) ocean retrospective analysis; and compare resulting basal melt rates and patterns to independent estimates from satellite observations. Two simulations are carried out: the first is based on the original ECCO2 vertical discretization; the second has higher vertical resolution particularly at the depth range of ice shelf cavities. The original ECCO2 vertical discretization produces higher than observed melt rates and leads to a misrepresentation of Southern Ocean water mass properties and transports. In general, thicker levels at the base of the ice shelves lead to increased melting because of their larger heat capacity. This strengthens horizontal gradients and circulation within and outside the cavities and, in turn, warm water transports from the shelf break to the ice shelves. The simulation with more vertical levels produces basal melt rates (1735 ± 164 Gt/a) and patterns that are in better agreement with observations. Thinner levels in the sub‐ice‐shelf cavities improve the representation of a fresh/cold layer at the ice shelf base and of warm/salty water near the bottom, leading to a sharper pycnocline and reduced vertical mixing underneath the ice shelf. Improved water column properties lead to more accurate melt rates and patterns, especially for melt/freeze patterns under large cold‐water ice shelves. At the 18 km grid spacing of the ECCO2 model configuration, the smaller, warm‐water ice shelves cannot be properly represented, with higher than observed melt rates in both simulations.

Tectonic and oceanographic control of sedimentary patterns in a small oceanic basin: Dove Basin (Scotia Sea, Antarctica)

AbstractDove Basin, a small oceanic domain located within the southern Scotia Sea, evidences a complex tectonic evolution linked to the development of the Scotia Arc. The basin also straddles the junction between the main Southern Ocean water masses: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the Southeast Pacific Deep Water (SPDW) and the Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW). Analysis of multichannel seismic reflection profiles, together with swath bathymetry data, reveals the main structure and sediment distribution of the basin, allowing a reconstruction of the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the basin and assessment of the main bottom water flows that influenced its depositional development. Sediment dispersed in the basin was largely influenced by gravity‐driven transport from adjacent continental margins, later modified by deep bottom currents. Sediments derived from melting icebergs and extensive ice sheets also contributed to a fraction of the basin deposits. We identify four stages in the basin evolution which – based on regional age assumptions – took place during the early Miocene, middle Miocene, late Miocene–early Pliocene and late Pliocene–Quaternary. The onsets of the ACC flow in Dove Basin during the early Miocene, the WSDW flow during the middle Miocene, and the SPDW during the late Miocene were influenced by tectonic events that facilitated the opening of new oceanic gateways in the region. The analysis of Dove Basin reveals that tectonics is a primary factor influencing its sedimentary stacking patterns, the structural development of new oceanic gateways permitting the inception of deep‐water flows that have since controlled the sedimentary processes.

An assessment of Southern Ocean water masses and sea ice during 1988–2007 in a suite of interannual CORE-II simulations

We characterise the representation of the Southern Ocean water mass structure and sea ice within a suite of 15 global ocean-ice models run with the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiment Phase II (CORE-II) protocol. The main focus is the representation of the present (1988–2007) mode and intermediate waters, thus framing an analysis of winter and summer mixed layer depths; temperature, salinity, and potential vorticity structure; and temporal variability of sea ice distributions. We also consider the interannual variability over the same 20 year period. Comparisons are made between models as well as to observation-based analyses where available.The CORE-II models exhibit several biases relative to Southern Ocean observations, including an underestimation of the model mean mixed layer depths of mode and intermediate water masses in March (associated with greater ocean surface heat gain), and an overestimation in September (associated with greater high latitude ocean heat loss and a more northward winter sea-ice extent). In addition, the models have cold and fresh/warm and salty water column biases centred near 50°S. Over the 1988–2007 period, the CORE-II models consistently simulate spatially variable trends in sea-ice concentration, surface freshwater fluxes, mixed layer depths, and 200–700 m ocean heat content. In particular, sea-ice coverage around most of the Antarctic continental shelf is reduced, leading to a cooling and freshening of the near surface waters. The shoaling of the mixed layer is associated with increased surface buoyancy gain, except in the Pacific where sea ice is also influential. The models are in disagreement, despite the common CORE-II atmospheric state, in their spatial pattern of the 20-year trends in the mixed layer depth and sea-ice.

Onset of Antarctic Circumpolar Current 30 million years ago as Tasmanian Gateway aligned with westerlies.

Earth's mightiest ocean current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), regulates the exchange of heat and carbon between the ocean and the atmosphere, and influences vertical ocean structure, deep-water production and the global distribution of nutrients and chemical tracers. The eastward-flowing ACC occupies a unique circumglobal pathway in the Southern Ocean that was enabled by the tectonic opening of key oceanic gateways during the break-up of Gondwana (for example, by the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway, which connects the Indian and Pacific oceans). Although the ACC is a key component of Earth's present and past climate system, the timing of the appearance of diagnostic features of the ACC (for example, low zonal gradients in water-mass tracer fields) is poorly known and represents a fundamental gap in our understanding of Earth history. Here we show, using geophysically determined positions of continent-ocean boundaries, that the deep Tasmanian Gateway opened 33.5 ± 1.5 million years ago (the errors indicate uncertainty in the boundary positions). Following this opening, sediments from Indian and Pacific cores recorded Pacific-type neodymium isotope ratios, revealing deep westward flow equivalent to the present-day Antarctic Slope Current. We observe onset of the ACC at around 30 million years ago, when Southern Ocean neodymium isotopes record a permanent shift to modern Indian-Atlantic ratios. Our reconstructions of ocean circulation show that massive reorganization and homogenization of Southern Ocean water masses coincided with migration of the northern margin of the Tasmanian Gateway into the mid-latitude westerly wind band, which we reconstruct at 64° S, near to the northern margin. Onset of the ACC about 30 million years ago coincided with major changes in global ocean circulation and probably contributed to the lower atmospheric carbon dioxide levels that appear after this time.