Barium in seawater and sediments from the Artic Ocean

As part of ongoing circulation studies in the Arctic, seawater samples for dissolved Ba concentrations were obtained during Sep.-Oct., 1992 at several locations in the Bering Strait, Eastern Chukchi and Southern Beaufort Seas. The results reveal a dynamic rang (10 to 150 nmol/kg) for this element in the Arctic equal to or greater than that in combined Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Lowest levels are observed in surface waters, with values tending to decrease northwards in the direction of currents generally flowing frorn the Bering Strait along the Alaskan coast. Low surfacc concentrations tend to be accompanied by relatively enriched near bottom levels. On the basis of these spatial distributions, hydrographic observations and a knowledge of its behavior in other marine settings, it appears that Ba can be significantly depleted from surface waters as a result of the highly seasonal biological aclivities over Arctic marginal shelves. Removal at the surface is counteracted to some extent by regeneration at depth or in the sediments and by riverine inputs. The biologically related drawdown is likely to enhance the contrast between 'background' surface Ba levels in the Arctic and waters imprinted by regeneration and/or rivers, These preliminary findings suggest that Ba holds particular promise for tracing river waters and the ventilation of halodine waters hy laterally sinking brines produced during ice formation over the shelves.

Dominance of facultative and obligate oligotrophic bacteria in surface waters above Gunnerus and Astrid Ridge, Antarctic Ocean

Facultative and obligate oligotrophs have been enumerated in March/April 1990 by the MPN-method with 14C-protein hydrolysate as tracer substrate. Obligate (10-3360 cells/ml) and facultative (110-9000 cells/ml) oligotrophs revealed to be the dominant population above Gunnerus Ridge (65°30'-68°S; 31-35°E) at a depth of 25 m compared with eutrophic bacteria (5 to 260 CFU/ml). Above Astrid Ridge (65-68°S; 8-18°E), obligate (0-1100 cells/ml) and facultative oligotrophs (300-9000 cells/ml) were also abundant but not always dominant. Bacterial biomass above Gunnerus Ridge was only between 7.3 and 43.6% of particulate biomass, but biomass of bacteria above Astrid Ridge amounted from 56.9 to >100% of particulate biomass; an exception was station no. PS16/552 with only 22.2% of bacterial biomass. Ratio of bacterial biomass to particulate biomass was negatively correlated with maximal primary production, complementing the view that phytoplankton was the dominant population above Gunnerus Ridge, whereas bacteria predominated above Astrid Ridge. Eutrophic bacteria were also more abundant above Astrid Ridge, with 3 to 6380 CFU/ml. Total bacteria by acridine orange direct counts amounted from 1 x 10**4 to 34.2 x 10**4 cells/ml. Bacterial biomass above Gunnerus Ridge was 1.8 to 10.7, and above Astrid Ridge 5.7 to 13.6 mg C/m*3. Maximal primary production above Gunnerus Ridge was 4.5 to 11.0, and above Astrid Ridge 2.3 to 3.5 mg C/m**3/d.

Physical and chemical oceanography in the Arctic Ocean

Data from sections across the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean occupied by the German Research Vessel Polarstern in 1987 and by the Swedish icebreaker Oden in 1991 are used to derive information on the freshwater balance of the Arctic Ocean halocline and on the sources of the deep waters of the Nansen, Amundsen and Makarov basins. Salinity, d18O and mass balances allow separation of the river-runoff and the sea-ice meltwater fractions contained in the Arctic halocline. This provides the basis for tracking the river-runoff signal from the shelf seas across the central Arctic Ocean to Fram Strait. The halocline has to be divided into at least three lateral regimes: the southern Nansen Basin with net sea-ice melting, the northern Nansen Basin and Amundsen Basin with net sea-ice formation and increasing river-runoff fractions, and the Canadian Basin with minimum sea-ice meltwater and maximum river-runoff fractions and water of Pacific origin. In the Canadian Basin, silicate is used as a tracer to identify Pacific water entering through Bering Strait and an attempt is made to quantify its influence on the halocline waters of the Canadian Basin. For this purpose literature data from the CESAR and LOREX ice camps are used. Based on mass balances and depending on the value of precipitation over the area of the Arctic Ocean the average mean residence time of the river-runoff fraction contained in the Arctic Ocean halocline is determined to be about 14 or 11 years. Water column inventories of river-runoff and sea-ice meltwater are calculated for a section just north of Fram Strait and implications for the ice export rate through Fram Strait are discussed. Salinity, tritium, 3He and the d18O ratio of halocline waters sampled during the 1987 Polarstern cruise to the Nansen Basin are used to estimate the mean residence time of the river-runoff component in the halocline and on the shelves of the Arctic Ocean. These estimates are done by comparing ages of the halocline waters based on a combination of tracers yielding different time information: the tritium 'vintage' age which records the time that has passed since the river-runoff entered the shelf and the tritium/3He age which reflects the time since the shelf waters left the shelf. The difference between the ages determined by these two methods is about 3 to 6 years. Correction for the initial tritium/3He age of the shelf waters (about 0.5 to 1.5 years) yields a mean residence time of the river-runoff on the shelves of about 3.5 ± 2 years. Comparison of the 18O/16O ratios of shelf water, Atlantic water and the deep waters of the Arctic Ocean indicate that the sources of the deep and bottom waters of the Eurasian Basin are located in the Barents and Kara seas.

High-resolution in situ oxygen microprofiles, porewater and solid phase geochemistry from the Crimean shelf (Black Sea) from Maria S. Merian cruise MSM15/1

The outer western Crimean shelf of the Black Sea is a natural laboratory to investigate effects of stable oxic versus varying hypoxic conditions on seafloor biogeochemical processes and benthic community structure. Bottom-water oxygen concentrations ranged from normoxic (175 µmol O2/L) and hypoxic (< 63 µmol O2/L) or even anoxic/sulfidic conditions within a few kilometers' distance. Variations in oxygen concentrations between 160 and 10 µmol/L even occurred within hours close to the chemocline at 134 m water depth. Total oxygen uptake, including diffusive as well as fauna-mediated oxygen consumption, decreased from 15 mmol/m**2/d on average in the oxic zone, to 7 mmol/m**2/d on average in the hypoxic zone, correlating with changes in macrobenthos composition. Benthic diffusive oxygen uptake rates, comprising respiration of microorganisms and small meiofauna, were similar in oxic and hypoxic zones (on average 4.5 mmol/m**2/d), but declined to 1.3 mmol/m**2/d in bottom waters with oxygen concentrations below 20 µmol/L. Measurements and modeling of porewater profiles indicated that reoxidation of reduced compounds played only a minor role in diffusive oxygen uptake under the different oxygen conditions, leaving the major fraction to aerobic degradation of organic carbon. Remineralization efficiency decreased from nearly 100 % in the oxic zone, to 50 % in the oxic-hypoxic zone, to 10 % in the hypoxic-anoxic zone. Overall, the faunal remineralization rate was more important, but also more influenced by fluctuating oxygen concentrations, than microbial and geochemical oxidation processes.

Biogenic and lithogenic silica, silicic acid, production of biogenic silica, and irradiance measurements during the Ross Sea Bloom Project 1994-1996

The development of the seasonal phytoplankton bloom in the Ross Sea was studied during two cruises. The first, conducted in November-December 1994, investigated the initiation and rapid growth of the bloom, whereas the second (December 1995-January 1996) concentrated on the bloom's maximum biomass period and the subsequent decline in biomass. Central to the understanding of the controls of growth and the summer decline of the bloom is a quantitative assessment of the growth rate of phytoplankton. Growth rates were estimated over two time scales with different methods. The first estimated daily growth rates from isotropic incorporation under simulated in situ conditions, including 14C, 15N and 32Si uptake measurements combined with estimates of standing stocks of particulate organic carbon, nitrogen and biogenic silica. The second method used daily to weekly changes in biomass at selected locations, with net growth rates being estimated from changes in standing stocks of phytoplankton. In addition, growth rates were estimated in large-volume experiments under optimal irradiances. Growth rates showed distinct temporal patterns. Early in the growing season, short-term estimates suggested that growth rates of in situ assemblages were less than maximum (relative to the temperature-limited maximum) and were likely reduced due to low irradiance regimes encountered under the ice. Growth rates increased thereafter and appeared to reach their maximum as biomass approached the seasonal peak, but decreased markedly in late December. Differences between the major taxonomic groups present were also noted, especially from the isotopic tracer experiments. The haplophyte Phaeocystic antarctica was dominant in 1994 throughout the growing season, and it exhibited the greatest growth rates (mean 0.41/day) during spring. Diatom standing stocks were low early in the growing season, and growth rates averaged 0.100/day. In summer diatoms were more abundant, but their growth rates remained much lower (mean of 0.08/day) than the potential maximum. Understanding growth rate controls is essential to the development of predictive models of the carbon cycle and food webs in Antarctic waters.

Some hydrophysical and hydrochemical parameters of the upper part of the hydrogen sulfide zone in the Black Sea, September 11-22, 1994

Features of spatial variability of hydrogen sulfide in the northeastern part of the Black Sea are estimated. Some technical aspects of H2S concentration determination in the anoxic zone are discussed: in its upper part at H2S concentration <30 µmol/l, the photometric method is recommended, while for deeper layers the iodometric method should be used. With linearity of vertical distribution of hydrogen sulfide and ammonium taken into account their vertical gradients are estimated as 0.49+/-0.04 µmol/m and 0.19+/-0.06 µmol/m respectively. It is shown that the upper boundary of the H2S layer corresponds to the isopycnal surface with Sigma_t = 16.19+/-0.05 arbitrary units. Special attention is paid to relationship of hydrogen sulfide distribution with hydrophysical features in the region under study, in particular in the coastal zone. It is shown that hydrodynamic conditions control spatial distribution of hydrogen sulfide. On the basis of isopycnal treatment of the H2S field existence of a coastal convergence zone is proved, and peculiarities are recognized of vertical circulation in the main Black Sea gyre and coastal anticyclonic eddies; here hydrogen sulfide serves as a tracer of hydrophysical mixing processes.