Effect of Global Change on the Primary Production of Antarctic coastal Ecosystems
Entry ID:
ASAC_2518
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Summary
Abstract:
Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2518 See the link below for public details on this project. Global climate change will lead to a reduction in the duration and thickness of sea ice in coastal areas. We will determine whether this will lead to a decrease in primary production and food value to higher predators. Project objectives: Our primary objective is to determine what effect will ... declining sea ice cover have on Antarctic coastal primary production?
Hypotheses to be tested
- A decrease in sea ice algal production will lead to a net reduction in total primary production.
- A decrease in sea ice will result in less water column stratification which will reduce the significance of phytoplankton blooms.
- Less sea ice will lead to a change in phytoplankton bloom composition away from diatoms towards un-nutritious nuisance blooms such as Phaeocystis
- Benthic microalgal production will increase
- Seaweed production will increase slightly
- A decrease in sea ice thickness will increase ice algal production (as they are generally light limited)
- Ice algae, benthic microalgae, and phytoplankton will acclimate to an elevated light climates by changing their photosynthetic efficiency and capacity
- Ice algae, benthic microalgae, and phytoplankton will acclimate to an altered light quality.
To answer these questions we will also need to determine:
- What is the total annual primary production at coastal Antarctic sites; this consists of the contributions from the sea ice algal mats, benthic microalgal, seaweed and phytoplankton?
- What is the effect of major environmental variables, such as UV, salinity, currents oxygen toxicity, cloud cover, nutrient availability and temperature on production.
- What is the inter-annual variability in primary production?
A broader scale issue that our data will contribute to providing answers to is the question
- What effect will changing primary production have on higher trophic levels?
Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report:
Progress against objectives:
The 2009/10 field and laboratory season focused on the second of our primary questions, i.e. 'What is the effect of major environmental variables, such as UV, salinity, currents oxygen toxicity, cloud cover, nutrient availability and temperature on production'. In particular we focused on light and light transmission though the sea ice.
The science program AAS2518 was executed at Casey station from 11 Nov to 5 Dec 2009. The project was split into a field and a lab-based component. In situ spectral light transmission data were collected on first year sea ice within the vicinity of Jack's Hut. Ice cores were collected and transported to the laboratory at Casey station for spectral attenuation profiles within sea ice, and for measurements of spectral absorption by particulate and dissolved organic matter.
Overall, the program was successful: in situ sea-ice spectral transmission data was collected in combination with vertical profiles of absorption coefficients of particulate (algae and detritus) and dissolved organic matter. Samples for analysis of photosynthetic pigments were collected and shipped to Sydney. Their analysis is underway. Due to logistical issues associated with the collection and transport of sea ice cores, the protocol for vertical profiling of spectral attenuation was modified (see below) and analysis of the data is currently underway.
The field component of the program was successful as spectral transmission data was collected for first year sea-ice, and the chosen site contained a thriving sea ice algal community for bio-optical measurements. It was initially planned to sample multiple sites offering a range of varying sea-ice thickness, but this was not possible during this campaign. Many sites in the vicinity of Casey station had already started to melt and break up, so that for logistical and safety reasons the area around Jack's hut was the only workable option. The field period instead spanned ~ 20 days during the melt period at Jack's, during which the porosity of sea ice increased but thickness remained constant.
Ice cores destined for spectral transmission profiles were to be collected whole and intact, but due to the presence of fractures in the sea ice, drilling (manual as well as motor powered) resulted in fractured core samples. The protocol was therefore modified: cores were sectioned in 20 cm sections and spectral transmission measured for each section. Spectral transmission profiles across the entire thickness of sea ice are to be re-constructed from the discrete data points. The accuracy of the approach will be assessed against the in situ spectral transmission data.
The download file contains three spreadsheets (two of them are csv files), and a readme document which provides detailed information about the three spreadsheets. 
Related URL
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Description:
Download point for the data
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Geographic Coverage
(Click for Interactive Map)
Spatial coordinates
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N: -66.0
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S: -66.5
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E: 110.8
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W: 110.3
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Quality
The date provided in temporal coverage is approximate only, and represents the beginning of the 2004/2005 season at Casey Station.
Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report:
Field work:
Day trips to Jack's Donga and onto sea-ice were performed every 3 days for measurements of light transfer through sea ice and ice core sampling: 1 day of initial ... field set up and testing (11 Nov) , and 6 days of field sampling :
Sampling day S0 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6
Date 11/11/09 14/11/09 17/11/09 20/11/09 23/11/09 29/11/09 03/12/09
The following procedure was followed each sampling day:
- Preparation and set-up: An initial hole was drilled through the sea-ice. On days S0 and S1 this was done using a manual SIPRE ice corer. On the following days this was done using a motor-powered ice corer (Lannuzel, Trull 3026), on a new site approx. 100m offshore. Downwelling PAR was recorded (LiCor light sensor) as well as air temperature. Cross calibration of the two spectral systems (spectrometer + optical fibre +cosine corrector) was obtained by a simultaneous measure of above-ice spectral downwelling irradiance with the two systems.
- Surface albedo: The orientation of one fibre was then inverted pointing downward, and a simultaneous measure of downward and upward spectral irradiance was performed.
- In situ optical transmission measurement: Simultaneous above and under ice spectral transmission was measured between 300-850 nm, using 2x [Ocean optics USB2000 + 10m fibre optic + cosine corrector]. A fibre optic was attached to an underwater mechanical arm and inserted under the ice and positioned 2 m away from the hole. The second fibre optic was maintained at ~ 2m above the surface and pointing upwards.
- Ice core collection for profiles of spectral attenuation, particulate and dissolved absorption: Cores were cut using the manual SIPRE ice corer, divided into 5- 20 cm sections, sheltered from sunlight and transported back to Casey station for further analysis.
Laboratory activity/analysis:
- Spectral attenuation profiles: This was performed immediately upon return to the station after field sampling (~2 after collection). A Schott lamp (400-750nm) equipped with a fibre optic and collimating lens provided irradiance at one end of the tubes, and spectral irradiance was measured at the other end of the ice core section using the ocean optics spectrometer+ fibre optic+ cosine corrector. Light transmission through each ice core section was measured twice, inside a black and a silver coated tube.
Each field day was followed by 2 days on Station for lab processing of ice core samples. Core sections not used for the spectral transmission measurements were melted overnight in the dark at 5 degrees C.
- Particulate absorption: For each 20 cm section of melted sea ice, 200- 500 ml were melted onto 25mm GF/F filter for particulate absorption measurement. Phytoplankton fraction was extracted using methanol and the measurement was repeated for de-pigmented particle absorption ( detritus).
- Pigment analysis: The same volume as above was filtered onto a second GF/F filter, immediately placed in cryovial and stored at -80 degrees C for shipping back to Sydney and HPLC pigment analysis (storage in freezer, no liquid nitrogen available).
- CDOM absorption: 100 ml was filtered through 0.2 um polycarbonate filter, the filtrate was placed into 10cm quartz cuvette for CDOM absorption measurement onto spectrophotometer.
- Total suspended matter: 200-500 ml were filtered onto pre-combusted, pre-weighed GF/F filter, dried at room temperature for a few days and the dry mass measured.
- 15 ml was preserved in lugols from the darkly pigmented bottommost layer of ice, and shipped back to Sydney for taxonomic determination.
Access Constraints
These data are publicly available for download from the provided URL. Three spreadsheets and a readme document are part of the download file.
Data Set Progress
COMPLETE
Data Center
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL:
http://nsidc.org
Dataset ID:
NSIDC-0110
| Data Center Personnel |
Name:
NSIDC
USER SERVICES
Phone:
+1 (303) 492-6199
Fax:
+1 (303) 492-2468
Email:
nsidc at nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City:
Boulder
Province or State:
CO
Postal Code:
80309-0449
Country:
USA
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Distribution
Distribution Media:
ftp
Distribution Size:
5 KB ASCII files, 34 KB Excel files, 139-890 MB TIFF files
Distribution Format:
ASCII files, Excel files, TIFF files
Personnel
Role:
INVESTIGATOR
Phone:
(505) 835-5783
Email:
nelia at nmt.edu
Contact Address:
New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources
Earth and Environmental Science Department
New Mexico Tech
801 Leroy Place
City:
Socorro
Province or State:
NM
Postal Code:
87801-4796
Country:
USA
Role:
TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone:
+1 (303) 492-6199
Fax:
+1 (303) 492-2468
Email:
nsidc at nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City:
Boulder
Province or State:
CO
Postal Code:
80309-0449
Country:
USA
Publications/References
Dunbar, N., G. Zielinski, and D. Voisins. 2002. Tephra layers in the Siple and Taylor Dome Ice Cores, Antarctica: Correlations and sources. In press. Dunbar, N., R. Esser, and W. McIntosh. 1998. Englacial tephra layers in West Antarctica: Implications for the history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 33. Dunbar, N., R. Esser, W. McIntosh, P. Kyle, and G. Zielinski. ... 1997. Englacial tephra layers in the East and West Antarctic ice sheets: Indicators of glacial flow patterns on ice sheet margins. EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 78:F250. Dunbar, N. R. Esser, W. McIntosh, G. Zielinski, and P. Kyle. 1997. Englacial tephra layers in West Antarctica: Implications for the history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: 4th Annual West Antarctic Ice Sheet Workshop. Dunbar, N., W. McIntosh, R. Esser, T. Wilch, and G. Zielinski. 1998. Direct dating and geochemical correlations of englacial tephra layers at two sites in West An
tarctica, in Proceedings of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Meeting Chapman Conference, Sept. 13-18, 1998, Orono, Maine: 18-19. Dunbar, N., W. McIntosh, R. Esser, T. Wilch, and G. Zielinski. 1999. Englacial tephrochronology in West Antarctica: Constraints on ice sheet history, and potential longer ice records, in 8th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand: 100. Esser, R., R. Kyle, and N. Dunbar. 1999. 40Ar/39Ar chronology of the Pleiades Volcanic Centre, Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica: A potential source of late-pleistocene englacial tephra layers, in 8th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand: 100. Licht, K., N. Dunbar, A. Jennings, and J. Andrews. 1999. Sedimentological evidence for the maximum extent of grounded ice in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica during the last glacial maximum. Geological Society of America Bulletin 111(1):91-103. Wilch, T
. 1998. Volcanic record of the West Antarctic ice sheet in Marie Byrd
Land [PhD thesis]: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 160 pp. Wilch, T., W. McIntosh, and N. Dunbar. 1999. Late quaternary volcanic activity in Marie Byrd Land: Potential 40Ar/39Ar dated time horizons in West Antarctic ice and marine cores: Geological Society of America Bulletin 111:1563-1580.
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date:
2002-06-27
Last DIF Revision Date:
2011-07-26
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