Iron in sea ice ...

• Main Author: Lannuzel, Delphine
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2016
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Sea ice; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.865037; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.865037

The discovery that melting sea ice can fertilize iron (Fe)-depleted polar waters has recently fostered trace metal research efforts in sea ice. The aim of this review is to summarize and synthesize the current understanding of Fe biogeochemistry in sea ice. To do so, we compiled available data on particulate, dissolved, and total dissolvable Fe (PFe, DFe and TDFe, respectively) from sea-ice studies from both polar regions and from sub-Arctic and northern Hemisphere temperate areas. Data analysis focused on a circum-Antarctic Fe dataset derived from 61 ice cores collected during 10 field expeditions carried out between 1997 and 2012 in the Southern Ocean. Our key findings are that 1) concentrations of all forms of Fe (PFe, DFe, TDFe) are at least a magnitude larger in fast ice and pack ice than in typical Antarctic surface waters; 2) DFe, PFe and TDFe behave differently when plotted against sea-ice salinity, suggesting that their distributions in sea ice are driven by distinct, spatially and temporally ...