Vertical distribution and seasonal variation in ice algae biomass in coastal sea ice off Zhongshan Station, East Antarctica

• Main Authors: Jianfeng, He, Bo, Chen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 1996
• Subjects: East Antarctica; Austral; Zhongshan; Zhongshan Station; Advances in Polar Science; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice algae; Polar Science; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2118/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2118/1/A602.006.pdf

The biomass of ice algal communities in coastal sea ice off Zhongshan Station, Antarctica were monitored from April to December 1992. The maximum thickness of ice cover was 1.74 m in November/December and covered-snow was less than 35 cm in depth throughout the study period. Brown layers occurred in 2-5 cm of the ice bottom in late April and November, with chlorophyll a peak values of 360.7 and 2810 mg/m3 respectively. The integrated chlorophyll a values ranged from 1.17 to 59.7 mg/m3 with the peak occurring in November when ice algae bloomed, and the values never exceeded 6 mg/m3 before mid October except at one site, the highest value occurred in April and then decreased fluctuatedly throughout the year. The biomass was concentrated mainly in the bottom of the ice, and might be also partly concentrated in the interior sections where autumn bloom had occurred. The dominant diatoms were composed of Nitzschia lecointei, N.barkleyi, N. cylindrus in austral autumn and Amphiprora kjellmanii, Berkeleya rutilans, Nitzschia lecointei in austral spring, and showed some difference at sites owing to the environmental conditions.