Summer sea-ice melting enhances phytoplankton and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) productions in the Weddell–Scotia Confluence ...

• Main Authors: Li, Chengxuan, Chen, Kan, Sun, Xia, Liu, Lu, Xin, Ming, Liu, Xuan-Li, Wang, Bao-Dong
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: figshare 2023
• Subjects: Chemical oceanography; Sea ice; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24503776; https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Summer_sea-ice_melting_enhances_phytoplankton_and_dimethyl_sulfide_DMS_productions_in_the_Weddell_Scotia_Confluence/24503776

The relationships among sea ice melting, phytoplankton assemblages, and the production of climate-relevant trace gases in the Southern Ocean are gaining increasing attention from the scientific community. This is especially true for dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry by influencing the formation of sulfated aerosols with radiative impacts and constituting cloud condensation nuclei. In the current study, DMS and its precursors, dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and chlorophyll a (Chl a ), were quantified in the Weddell–Scotia Confluence (WSC) during the 2018 record ice extent minimum period. Mixed layer changes were found to be generally associated with spatial variation in sea ice melt, with the depth being six times deeper in ice-free, well-mixed regions than in seasonal ice-melting zones. The surface Chl a concentration increased from ice-free to ice-melting regions with elevated sea ice meltwater percentages and drawdown surface nutrient concentrations. The ...