Dataset for the paper: Factors influencing sea-ice algae abundance, community composition, and distribution in the marginal ice zone of the Southern Ocean during winter. ...

• Main Author: Louw, Simone
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2024
• Subjects: Other biological sciences not elsewhere classified; Antarctic; Indian; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; ice algae; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25381/cput.25040483.v1; https://esango.cput.ac.za/articles/dataset/Dataset_for_the_paper_Factors_influencing_sea-ice_algae_abundance_community_composition_and_distribution_in_the_marginal_ice_zone_of_the_Southern_Ocean_during_winter_/25040483/1

Microalgae and bacteria living in Antarctic sea-ice play a fundamental role in polar-ocean biogeochemistry, accounting for ∼25% of primary production in sea-ice-covered regions of the Southern Ocean. However, a paucity of measurements in the marginal ice zone (MIZ), particularly during winter, means that sea-ice algal dynamics are poorly understood, resulting in uncertainties in the drivers of Antarctic food-web and carbon-cycle variability. We investigated the relationships among biogeochemical parameters and sea-ice algae in the MIZ of the Indian Southern Ocean in winter 2017 through measurements of sea-ice algae functional groups, chlorophyll, and nutrient concentrations, in the sea-ice and the underlying surface seawater. We observed an abundant, active algal community within the sea-ice, which we attribute to passing cyclones that kept the ice permeable, along with biogeochemical and irradiance conditions that allowed for algal growth. The sea-ice conditions facilitated the proliferation of sea-ice ...