Dissolved greenhouse gases (nitrous oxide and methane) associated with the naturally iron-fertilized Kerguelen region (KEOPS 2 cruise) in the Southern Ocean

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Farías, L., Florez-Leiva, L., Besoain, V., Sarthou, Géraldine, Fernández, C.
• Other Authors: Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica en el Pacífico Sur Oriental (COPAS), Universidad de Concepción - University of Concepcion Chile, Programa de Biología - Universidad del Magdalena, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne (LOMIC), Observatoire océanologique de Banyuls (OOB), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ANR-10-BLAN-0614,KEOPS 2,Kerguelen : Comparaison plateau Ocean2(2010)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: MICROBIAL FOOD-WEB; PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOM; SURFACE WATERS; MARINE; DIMETHYLSULFONIOPROPIONATE; PACIFIC; FIXATION; EXCHANGE; PLATEAU; SCALE; ACL; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Southern Ocean; Austral; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; Pacific
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01207331; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01207331/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01207331/file/bg-12-1925-2015.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1925-2015

International audience The concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), were measured in the Kerguelen Plateau region (KPR). The KPR is affected by an annual microalgal bloom caused by natural iron fertilization, and this may stimulate the microbes involved in GHG cycling. This study was carried out during the KEOPS 2 cruise during the austral spring of 2011. Oceanographic variables, including N2O and CH4, were sampled (from the surface to 500 m depth) in two transects along and across the KRP, the north–south (TNS) transect (46°–51° S, ~ 72° E) and the east–west (TEW) transect (66°–75° E, ~ 48.3° S), both associated with the presence of a plateau, polar front (PF) and other mesoscale features. The TEW presented N2O levels ranging from equilibrium (105%) to slightly supersaturated (120%) with respect to the atmosphere, whereas CH4 levels fluctuated dramatically, being highly supersaturated (120–970%) in areas close to the coastal waters of the Kerguelen Islands and in the PF. The TNS showed a more homogenous distribution for both gases, with N2O and CH4 levels ranging from 88 to 171% and 45 to 666% saturation, respectively. Surface CH4 peaked at southeastern stations of the KPR (A3 stations), where a phytoplankton bloom was observed. Both gases responded significantly, but in contrasting ways (CH4 accumulation and N2O depletion), to the patchy distribution of chlorophyll a. This seems to be associated to the supply of iron from various sources. Air–sea fluxes for N2O (from −10.5 to 8.65, mean 1.25 ± 4.04 μmol m−2 d−1) and for CH4 (from 0.32 to 38.1, mean 10.01 ± 9.97 μmol−2 d−1) indicated that the KPR is both a sink and a source for N2O, as well as a considerable and variable source of CH4. This appears to be associated with biological factors, as well as the transport of water masses enriched with Fe and CH4 from the coastal area of the Kerguelen Islands. These previously unreported results for the Southern Ocean suggest an intense microbial CH4 production in the ...