Land-fast sea ice of McMurdo Sound as a source of bio-essential trace metals for primary productivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient. Its low abundance limits primary productivity in more than 30% of the oceans, including the Southern Ocean, and has a crucial impact on the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and other elements with ultimate influence on the Earth climate system. Other trace metals, like Mn, Zn, Co and Cu are also required for microorganisms cell metabolism and may be (co-) limiting. Previous data on dissolved and particulate Fe concentration data showed that Fe is 10-100 times more concentrated in the sea ice than in underlying seawater and that sea ice melt can deliver up to 70% of the daily Fe supply to the surface waters. According to budget estimates in East Antarctica and in the Weddell Sea, accumulated Fe would largely derive from the underlying seawater rather than from atmospheric inputs. Most of the available data of trace metals in the sea ice concern pack ice and Fe. Only very scarce data exist on land-fast ice and on other trace metal concentrations.
In this presentation, the general objective is to assess the role of land-fast ice as a source of Fe and other bio-essential trace metals (e.g. Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, Cd), its impact on primary productivity and on the biological pump. Samples of sea ice, brines and seawater as well as dusts samples have been collected during the land-based sampling program YROSIAE at Cape Evans (Scott Base, McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica) from Nov 2011 to Dec 2011 and from Aug 2012 to Dec 2012. Dissolved and particulate trace metals concentrations have been measured by a recently developed method, which combines multiple element isotope dilution with preconcentration using the Nobias Chelate PA1 resin and ICP-MS analysis.
Concentrations of trace metals in snow collected during the present study are one to up to five orders of magnitude higher than the concentrations previously observed in snow from East Antarctica, showing a much stronger dust input of these metals in McMurdo Sound. When comparing the concentrations obtained in the under-ice seawater with those obtained in the snow at McMurdo Sound, concentrations of Fe, Al, Mn, Co are much lower, whereas concentrations of Cu, Zn and Pb are similar and the concentrations of Ni, Mo and Cd are higher. Inventories of these trace metals in the land-fast sea ice give insights on its role as a source of bio-essential trace metal for the fuelling of the seasonal Ross Sea bloom. Other sources of these trace metals will be addressed and compared.