Iron concentration and fluxes in the water column during POLARSTERN cruises in the Southern Ocean, supplement to: de Jong, Jeroen; Schoemann, Véronique; Lannuzel, Delphine; Croot, Peter L; de Baar, Hein J W; Tison, Jean-Louis (2012): Natural iron fertilization of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean by continental shelf sources of the Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 117, G01029

• Main Authors: de Jong, Jeroen, Schoemann, Véronique, Lannuzel, Delphine, Croot, Peter L, de Baar, Hein J W, Tison, Jean-Louis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2012
• Subjects: International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Weddell Sea; Weddell; Antarc*; International Polar Year; IPY
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.808656; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.808656

In large parts of the Southern Ocean, primary production is limited due to shortage of iron (Fe). We measured vertical Fe profiles in the western Weddell Sea, Weddell-Scotia Confluence, and Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), showing that Fe is derived from benthic Fe diffusion and sediment resuspension in areas characterized by high turbulence due to rugged bottom topography. Our data together with literature data reveal an exponential decrease of dissolved Fe (DFe) concentrations with increasing distance from the continental shelves of the Antarctic Peninsula and the western Weddell Sea. This decrease can be observed 3500 km eastward of the Antarctic Peninsula area, downstream the ACC. We estimated DFe summer fluxes into the upper mixed layer of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean and found that horizontal advection dominates DFe supply, representing 54 ± 15% of the total flux, with significant vertical advection second most important at 29 ± 13%. Horizontal and vertical diffusion are weak with 1 ± 2% and 1 ± 1%, respectively. The atmospheric contribution is insignificant close to the Antarctic continent but increases to 15 ± 10% in the remotest waters (>1500 km offshore) of the ACC. Translating Southern Ocean carbon fixation by primary producers into biogenic Fe fixation shows a twofold excess of new DFe input close to the Antarctic continent and a one-third shortage in the open ocean. Fe recycling, with an estimated 'fe' ratio of 0.59, is the likely pathway to balance new DFe supply and Fe fixation. : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150