| Abstract |
Solo NERC funded grant, 'isotopic characterisation of nutrient dynamics and Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) behaviour in the West Antarctic Peninsula sea ice environment' with grant reference NE/K010034/1. The project is led by Dr Sian Henley (University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences).
The research project aims to examine ways in which ongoing climate change and sea ice decline at the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) are influencing nutrient budgets and biogeochemical cycling throughout the region. The WAP is an ecologically important region of high primary productivity, where nutrient cycling is known to be crucial to phytoplankton production and its relationship with carbon dioxide dynamics. The study comprises of three components:
- A time-series study over three austral summer growing seasons in Ryder Bay, WAP, to examine temporal changes in fixed nitrogen budgets and cycling, in relation to inter-annual variability in sea ice, water column structure and productivity.
- A ship-based transect from the shelf break to Marguerite Bay to examine deep-water behaviour and its impact on the supply of nutrients to high productivity coastal regions.
- Ship-based sampling across the wider WAP shelf region to examine spatial variability in nutrient dynamics, productivity, sea ice and physical oceanography, and give a broader context to the time-series study.
Ship based sampling was completed on-board RRS James Clark Ross cruise JR20141231 (JR307, JR308) comprising of full depth CTDs, water sampling for analysis on-board for macro nutrient concentration and RNA sequencing of organic matter. Times Series, study data were collected as part of the Rothera Time Series (RaTS), a long-term monitoring project conducted by the British Antarctic Survey since 1997.
The NERC funded data collected under NE/K010034/1 is restricted to the Principal Investigator for 2 years from the point of data collection. Data is freely available to the public beyond this date.
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