Photoadaptive response during the development of a coustal Antarctic diatom bloom and relationship to water column stability

• Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
• Main Author: Moline, Mark A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1998
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Oceanography; Antarc*; Antarctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.1998.43.1.0146; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.1998.43.1.0146; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1998.43.1.0146; https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1998.43.1.0146

The raio of the xanthophylll pigments diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin to chlorophyll a [(DD+DT}:Chl a ] was used as a photoadaptive index during the development of a large Antarctic diatom bloom. This index was found to track fluctuations in the incident solar irradiance and the in situ light field over a 3 order magnitude change in the water column biomass. Depth profiles of the (DD+DT}:Chl a ratio showed that the upper mixed layer, assessed by physical data, was in fact stable over the course of the month. Diel experiments conducted over the same period showed a delayed (5–8 h) response of the DD+DT pool to the instantaneous Q par (400–700 nm) irradiance. These time series results illustrate the potential use of xanthophyll pigmnents in assessing phytoplankton light histories and the degree of water column stability.