Incorporation of sea ice algae into newly forming sea ice, using field and laboratory based experiments ...
Sea ice algae play a critical role as major primary producers in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Each autumn, algae are incorporated into newly forming sea ice in vast numbers, but the mechanisms by which algal cells are incorporated into young sea ice remain unclear. Early experiments with ice-formin...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | unknown |
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University Of Tasmania
2023
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23246243 https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Incorporation_of_sea_ice_algae_into_newly_forming_sea_ice_using_field_and_laboratory_based_experiments/23246243 |
| Summary: | Sea ice algae play a critical role as major primary producers in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Each autumn, algae are incorporated into newly forming sea ice in vast numbers, but the mechanisms by which algal cells are incorporated into young sea ice remain unclear. Early experiments with ice-forming tanks suggested that frazilharvesting is the most significant process leading to algal accumulation. In the present study, both field and laboratory experiments are used to investigate factors related to algal inclusion in sea ice. Field experiments were used to evaluate the natural extent of algal cell incorporation, while laboratory experiments tested specific processes. Field samples were collected in areas of new ice formation off eastern Antarctica during the spring of 1992 and the autumns of 1993 and 1996. One to three orders of magnitude higher algal biomass was found in ice and interstitial water samples than in the underlying water column. Diatoms contributed approximately two thirds of the biomass with ... |
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