Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition
We report here the first comprehensive seasonal study of benthic microbial activity in an Antarctic coastal environment. Measurements were made from December 1990 to February 1992 of oxygen uptake and sulfate reduction by inshore coastal sediments at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica. F...
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American Society for Microbiology
1993
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 |
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crasmicro:10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 2024-09-09T19:01:41+00:00 Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition Nedwell, D. B. Walker, T. R. Ellis-Evans, J. C. Clarke, A. 1993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 en eng American Society for Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/non-commercial-tdm-license Applied and Environmental Microbiology volume 59, issue 12, page 3989-3995 ISSN 0099-2240 1098-5336 journal-article 1993 crasmicro https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 2024-08-12T04:05:44Z We report here the first comprehensive seasonal study of benthic microbial activity in an Antarctic coastal environment. Measurements were made from December 1990 to February 1992 of oxygen uptake and sulfate reduction by inshore coastal sediments at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica. From these measurements the rate of benthic mineralization of organic matter was calculated. In addition, both the deposition rate of organic matter to the bottom sediment and the organic carbon content of the bottom sediment were measured during the same period. Organic matter input to the sediment was small under winter ice cover, and the benthic respiratory activity and the organic content of the surface sediment declined during this period as available organic matter was depleted. On an annual basis, about 32% of benthic organic matter mineralization was anoxic, but the proportion of anoxic compared with oxic mineralization increased during the winter as organic matter was increasingly buried by the amphipod infauna. Fresh organic input occurred as the sea ice melted and ice algae biomass sedimented onto the bottom, and input was sustained during the spring after ice breakup by continued primary production in the water column. The benthic respiratory rate and benthic organic matter content correspondingly increased towards the end of winter with the input of this fresh organic matter. The rates of oxygen uptake during the southern summer (80 to 90 mmol of O 2 m -2 day -1 ) were as high as those reported for other sediments at much higher environmental temperatures, and the annual mineralization of organic matter was equally high (12 mol of C m -2 year -1 ). Seasonal variations of benthic activity in this antarctic coastal sediment were regulated by the input and availability of organic matter and not by seasonal water temperature, which was relatively constant at between -1.8 and 0.5°C. We conclude that despite the low environmental temperature, organic matter degradation broadly balanced organic matter production, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice algae Sea ice Signy Island South Orkney Islands ASM Journals (American Society for Microbiology) Antarctic Signy Island ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) South Orkney Islands ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) Applied and Environmental Microbiology 59 12 3989 3995 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ASM Journals (American Society for Microbiology) |
op_collection_id |
crasmicro |
language |
English |
description |
We report here the first comprehensive seasonal study of benthic microbial activity in an Antarctic coastal environment. Measurements were made from December 1990 to February 1992 of oxygen uptake and sulfate reduction by inshore coastal sediments at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica. From these measurements the rate of benthic mineralization of organic matter was calculated. In addition, both the deposition rate of organic matter to the bottom sediment and the organic carbon content of the bottom sediment were measured during the same period. Organic matter input to the sediment was small under winter ice cover, and the benthic respiratory activity and the organic content of the surface sediment declined during this period as available organic matter was depleted. On an annual basis, about 32% of benthic organic matter mineralization was anoxic, but the proportion of anoxic compared with oxic mineralization increased during the winter as organic matter was increasingly buried by the amphipod infauna. Fresh organic input occurred as the sea ice melted and ice algae biomass sedimented onto the bottom, and input was sustained during the spring after ice breakup by continued primary production in the water column. The benthic respiratory rate and benthic organic matter content correspondingly increased towards the end of winter with the input of this fresh organic matter. The rates of oxygen uptake during the southern summer (80 to 90 mmol of O 2 m -2 day -1 ) were as high as those reported for other sediments at much higher environmental temperatures, and the annual mineralization of organic matter was equally high (12 mol of C m -2 year -1 ). Seasonal variations of benthic activity in this antarctic coastal sediment were regulated by the input and availability of organic matter and not by seasonal water temperature, which was relatively constant at between -1.8 and 0.5°C. We conclude that despite the low environmental temperature, organic matter degradation broadly balanced organic matter production, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nedwell, D. B. Walker, T. R. Ellis-Evans, J. C. Clarke, A. |
spellingShingle |
Nedwell, D. B. Walker, T. R. Ellis-Evans, J. C. Clarke, A. Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition |
author_facet |
Nedwell, D. B. Walker, T. R. Ellis-Evans, J. C. Clarke, A. |
author_sort |
Nedwell, D. B. |
title |
Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition |
title_short |
Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition |
title_full |
Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition |
title_fullStr |
Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition |
title_full_unstemmed |
Measurements of Seasonal Rates and Annual Budgets of Organic Carbon Fluxes in an Antarctic Coastal Environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Suggest a Broad Balance between Production and Decomposition |
title_sort |
measurements of seasonal rates and annual budgets of organic carbon fluxes in an antarctic coastal environment at signy island, south orkney islands, suggest a broad balance between production and decomposition |
publisher |
American Society for Microbiology |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) |
geographic |
Antarctic Signy Island South Orkney Islands |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Signy Island South Orkney Islands |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice algae Sea ice Signy Island South Orkney Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice algae Sea ice Signy Island South Orkney Islands |
op_source |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology volume 59, issue 12, page 3989-3995 ISSN 0099-2240 1098-5336 |
op_rights |
https://journals.asm.org/non-commercial-tdm-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.59.12.3989-3995.1993 |
container_title |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
container_volume |
59 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
3989 |
op_container_end_page |
3995 |
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1809947375758737408 |