Sources and distribution of particulate organic carbon in Great Wall Cove and Ardley Cove, King George Island, West Antarctica

• Main Authors: Shichao, Tian, Haiyan, Jin, Shengquan, Gao, Yanpei, Zhuang, Yang, Zhang, Bin, Wang, Jianfang, Chen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2015
• Subjects: Advances in Polar Science; Antarc*; Antarctica; King George Island; Polar Science; West Antarctica
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2558/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2558/1/A20150107.pdf

Concentrations of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), particulate organic carbon (POC) and its stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C) were analyzed to investigate the biogeochemical characteristics and sources of POC in Great Wall Cove (GWC) and Ardley Cove (AC) during the austral summer. POC concentrations ranged from 50.51 to 115.41 μg·L−1 (mean±1 standard deviation: 77.69±17.27 μg·L−1) in GWC and from 63.42 to 101.79 μg·L−1 (82.67±11.83 μg·L−1) in AC. The POC δ13C ranged from −30.83‰ to −26.12‰ (−27.40‰±0.96‰) in GWC and from −28.21‰ to −26.65‰ (−27.45‰±0.47‰) in AC. The temperature and salinity results showed distinct runoff signals in both GWC and AC, although the δ13C data and POC distribution indicate a negligible influence of land sources upon POC. The δ13C values suggest that POC is of predominantly marine origin. The POC/Chl-a ratio and the relationship between POC and Chl-a indicate that phytoplankton, organic detritus and heterotrophic organisms are significant contributors to POC in GWC and AC.