THE POTENTIAL ROLE O F MELTED "BROWN ICE " AS SOURCES OF

• Main Authors: Chelators, Ammonia T O The, Surface Waters, O F The, Frederico P. Brandini
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.598.1410; http://polaris.nipr.ac.jp/~penguin/polarbiosci/issues/pdf/1997-Brandini.pdf

Abstract: The Antarctic sea ice is the site of production of great amounts of dissolved biogenic compounds of a very diverse nature, including potential chelators and reduced nitrogen which are introduced into adjacent surface waters in marginal ice zones during melting periods. The effect of melted brown ice on the development of surface phytoplankton in the Weddell Sea was tested experimentally using natural surface populations and cultured diatoms. The growth of natural and cultured diatoms was enhanced after various additions of melted brown ice. EDTA was also used as a standard chelator in order to compare the chelating capacities of surface water and melted ice. It was demonstrated that surface waters are not limited by lack of chelating compounds, which may originate from ice communities. The role of melted brown ice as a potential source of either ammonium or chelators affecting phytoplankton development in marginal ice zones is discussed. 1.