Summer phytoplankton distributions in the Weddell Sea

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Estrada, Marta, Delgado, Maximino
• Other Authors: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer 1990
• Subjects: Phytoplankton; Dinoflagellate; Antarctic Peninsula; Frontal Zone; Austral Summer; Antarctic; Austral; The Antarctic; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Polar Biology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/256224; https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00233692; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003339

The quantitative composition of phytoplankton was studied along a transect of 14 hydrographic stations, between the southern coast of the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula, during the austral summer of 1984-1985. The most apparent feature of the phytoplankton distribution was the presence of a bloom of Phaeocystis at a frontal zone over the shelf break, and the marked contrast between a southern region, with high phytoplankton biomass, and a poorer region north of the shelf break. The most widely distributed diatom genus was Nitzschia (Fragilariopsis section). The phytoplankton assemblage of the southern region included the silicoflagellate Distephanus speculum, the diatom Rhizosolenia alata and several heterotrophic dinoflagellates such as Protoperidinium antarcticum and P. applanatum. The northern assemblage could be characterized by the abundance of flagellates and small dinoflagellates, and by diatoms such as Chaetoceros criophilum, Corethron criophilum Nitzschia kerguelensis and other Nitzschia species of the Fragilariopsis section This research was made possible by the Argentinean invitation to participate in the ARA Almirante lrizar cruise and by funds from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. We thank the crew and scientific participants in the cruise for their cooperation in the collection of the samples. We are indebted to our Argentinean colleagues and in particular to Drs. Viviana Alder and Marta Ferrario for their valuable help in many scientific aspects of the work. Mr. Joan Biosca, Ms. Antonia Cruz and Ms. Maria Vrlez provided technical assistance