Depth profiles of iodide and iodate during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XXIV/3 to the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean

The biogeochemistry of iodine in the waters of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean was investigated during the Polarstern cruise ANTXXIV-3 ZERO&DRAKE. The speciation and distribution of iodine (iodate and iodide) in seawater was examined across gradients of iron concentrations and phytoplankton abundance, ranging from an open ocean region along the Zero Meridian to the Weddell Sea and Drake Passage. Iodine cycling in high latitudes differs from that in low latitudes due to differences in the plankton community composition and the physicochemical characteristics. Iodate concentrations ranged between 400 and 450 nmol/L from the surface to the bottom. Surface concentrations of iodide (17 to over 60 nmol/L) were about an order of magnitude higher than below the pycnocline. The peak values of iodide lay nearly always within the euphotic zone and showed a weak, positive correlation with nitrite concentrations in the upper 200 m. In all vertical profiles a pronounced sub-surface maximum in iodide appears between 50 and 200 m depth indicating an iodide drawdown at the near surface. Iodide distribution in the Weddell Sea showed elevated levels in Weddell Sea Bottom Water (WSBW) indicating slow oxidation kinetics and the potential for iodide as a tracer of WSBW formation.

Pore water geochemistry of ODP Hole 169-1037B and Site 196-1038

Data were presented to compare pore fluids from Sites 1037 and 1038 in the Escanaba Trough, Gorda Ridge. Site 1037 constitutes the reference site, and Site 1038 is the hydrothermally affected site. The program was undertaken for two purposes: (1) to make a detailed analysis of the halide chemistry of these two sites, with the specific aim of discerning any potential differences in the generation of dissolved halides as a result of sediment diagenesis in these drill sites and (2) to investigate the geochemistry of Ba2+ and Mn2+ at these two sites to discover potential hydrothermal effects reflected in the concentration-depth distributions of these elements.