CO2 and O2 in Antarctic marine ecosystems
Bouquegneau, J.-M.; Joiris, C. (1993). CO2 and O2 in Antarctic marine ecosystems, in: Caschetto, S. (Ed.) Belgian scientific research programme on Antarctica: scientific results of phase II (10/1988-05/1992): 1. Plankton ecology and marine biogeochemistry. pp. II/07/B/1-17 In: Caschetto, S. (Ed.) (1993). Belgian scientific research programme on Antarctica: scientific results of phase II (10/1988-05/1992): 1. Plankton ecology and marine biogeochemistry. Belgian scientific research programme on Antarctica. Belgian Science Policy Office: Brussel. 295 pp., more In: Belgian scientific research programme on Antarctica. Belgian Science Policy Office: Brussel. , more |
| Abstract | In October and November 1988, photosynthetic oxygen production at the ice edge in the northwestern Weddell Sea was far in excess of plankton community respiration; the net oxygen evolution rate that was measured was high enough to explain the oxygen saturation values that were recorded. However in the ice-covered area to the south, respiration dominated -a cause of the low oxygen concentration recorded in that region as important as upwelling of oxygen -poor water. The oxygen production and consumption rates of the plankton were compatible with carbon dioxide concentrations registered at the ice edge underneath the pack-ice: one mole of oxygen for each mole of carbon dioxide, as expected on the basis of the 1 to 1 ratio in the simplest photosynthesis-respiration equations. The relation between photosynthetic oxygen evolution and carbon dioxide consumption on the one hand, and heterotrophic consumption and release on the other, underline the importance of the activity of the microbial ecosystem (phytoplankton and microheterotrophs) in determining the concentration of these gases in both the ice-free and ice-covered Southern Ocean. |
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