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Wind field effect on hydrography and chlorophyll dynamics in the coastal pelagial of Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2004

Frederico Pereira Brandini
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudos do Mar/UFPR, Av. Beira Mar s/n, Pontal do Sul, Paranaguá, 83.255-000, PR, Brazil
Jaqueline Rebello
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudos do Mar/UFPR, Av. Beira Mar s/n, Pontal do Sul, Paranaguá, 83.255-000, PR, Brazil

Abstract

The vertical distribution of physicochemical parameters and Chl a at a fixed station in Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetland Islands) was recorded over 73 days during the summer of 1988/89. Temporal variations in Chl a and nutrient stocks in the euphotic zone were associated with changes in the wind/hydrological regime. Northerly winds of late December and early January moved the surface layers towards the outerbay, during which time the chlorophyll stocks remained low in the euphotic zone. Turbulence induced by southerly winds in the second half of January resuspended sediments and benthic diatoms in the shallow (0–20 m) inner inlets of the bay, increasing turbidity and nutrient concentrations at the surface. During the first half of February wind relaxation caused the mass sedimentation of previously resuspended benthic diatoms increasing chlorophyll and phaeopigments in the subsurface layers in deeper sections of the bay. Although turbulence limits phytoplankton biomass accumulation in open waters of the Antarctic, it may have a positive effect (increasing chlorophyll biomass of benthic origin) in coastal pelagic environments during late summer.

Type
Papers—Life Sciences and Oceanography
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 1994

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