(Table 1) Characteristics of air temperature, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, nutrients, and total particulate matter for Admiralty Bay and Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica

DOI

Since the early 1990s, phytoplankton has been studied and monitored in Potter Cove (PC) and Admiralty Bay (AB), King George/25 de Mayo Island (KGI), South Shetlands. Phytoplankton biomass is typically low compared to other Antarctic shelf environments, with average spring - summer values below 1 mg chlorophyll a (Chl a)/m3. The physical conditions in the area (reduced irradiance induced by particles originated from the land, intense winds) limit the coastal productivity at KGI, as a result of shallow Sverdrup's critical depths (Zc) and large turbulent mixing depths (Zt). In January 2010 a large phytoplankton bloom with a maximum of around 20 mg Chl a/m3, and monthly averages of 4 (PC) and 6 (AB) mg Chl a/m**3, was observed in the area, making it by far the largest recorded bloom over the last 20 yr. Dominant phytoplankton species were the typical bloom-forming diatoms that are usually found in the western Antarctic Peninsula area. Anomalously cold air temperature and dominant winds from the eastern sector seem to explain adequate light : mixing environment. Local physical conditions were analyzed by means of the relationship between Zc and Zt, and conditions were found adequate for allowing phytoplankton development. However, a multiyear analysis indicates that these conditions may be necessary but not sufficient to guarantee phytoplankton accumulation. The relation between maximum Chl a values and air temperature suggests that bottom-up control would render such large blooms even less frequent in KGI under the warmer climate expected in the area during the second half of the present century.

For Potter Cove, data from three of the 3 yr representing contrasting conditions after the formalization of the conceptual model are presented. Nutrients for year 2010 in Potter Cove correspond to the week after the blooming period.

Supplement to: Schloss, Irene R; Wasilowska, Agnieszka; Dumont, Dany; Almandoz, Gastón Osvaldo; Hernando, M P; Michaud-Tremblay, C-A; Saravia, L; Rzepecki, Marek; Monien, Patrick; Monien, Donata; Kopczynska, E E; Bers, A Valeria; Ferreyra, Gustavo A (2014): On the phytoplankton bloom in coastal waters of southern King George Island (Antarctica) in January 2010: An exceptional feature? Limnology and Oceanography, 59(1), 195-210

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.854856
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2014.59.1.0195
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.854856
Provenance
Creator Schloss, Irene R; Wasilowska, Agnieszka (ORCID: 0000-0002-9538-593X); Dumont, Dany ORCID logo; Almandoz, Gastón Osvaldo (ORCID: 0000-0001-7931-582X); Hernando, M P; Michaud-Tremblay, C-A; Saravia, L ORCID logo; Rzepecki, Marek; Monien, Patrick ORCID logo; Monien, Donata ORCID logo; Kopczynska, E E; Bers, A Valeria; Ferreyra, Gustavo A ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2014
Funding Reference German Research Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Crossref Funder ID 5472008 https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/5472008 Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Supplementary Dataset; Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 58 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-58.667W, -62.233S, -58.430E, -62.149N); King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula; Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Temporal Coverage Begin 2001-01-15T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2011-01-15T00:00:00Z