Description: The Southern Ocean is the world's largest high nutrient low chlorophyll (HNLC) region. However, satellite images highlight several areas associated with island chains and shallow topographic features which display high phytoplankton biomass. Here we present the first study of seasonal variations in phytoplankton biomass and iron availability in the Scotia Sea over both austral spring and summer seasons. Based on dissolved iron (dFe) and Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations, the study area is be divided into three regions: North of South Georgia, south of South Georgia and the vicinity of South Orkney Islands. The Scotia Sea to the south of South Georgia exhibited low dFe concentrations (〈0.027-0.05 nM) in surface waters during both the spring and summer seasons. Nevertheless, nitrate concentrations were considerably lower in spring compared to summer (difference similar to 8 mu M). Summer Chl a concentrations were similar to 1.4 mg m(-3) and in situ phytoplankton populations displayed evidence of iron stress, suggesting the development of seasonal iron limitation. Surface water dFe concentrations in the South Georgia bloom waters (north of the islands) were elevated and slightly lower during spring than summer (0.20 nM compared to 0.31 nM, P 〉 0.05). Nitrate concentrations were 16 mu M lower in summer compared to spring, whilst Chl a standing stocks remained high. Enhanced dFe (similar to 0.25 nM) and Chl a concentrations were furthermore observed in the vicinity of the South Orkney Islands, located in the southern Scotia Sea. Iron addition experiments showed that in situ phytoplankton were iron replete spring and summer north of South Georgia and in the vicinity of South Orkney Islands during summer. We thus suggest that increased iron supply in high productivity areas including the area north of South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands, was sustained by a continuous benthic supply from their shelf systems, with a potential additional input from seasonally retreating sea ice in the South Orkney system

Description: Measurements performed on a cruise within the central Iceland Basin in the high-latitude (〉55 degrees N) North Atlantic Ocean during late July to early September 2007 indicated that the concentration of dissolved iron (dFe) in surface waters was very low, with an average of 0.093 (〈0.010-0.218, n = 43) nM, while nitrate concentrations ranged from 2 to 5 mu M and in situ chlorophyll concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 mg m(-3). In vitro iron addition experiments demonstrated increased photosynthetic efficiencies (F(v)/F(m)) and enhanced chlorophyll accumulation in treatments amended with iron when compared to controls. Enhanced net growth rates for a number of phytoplankton taxa including the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi were also observed following iron addition. These results provide strong evidence that iron limitation within the postspring bloom phytoplankton community contributes to the observed residual macronutrient pool during summer. Low atmospheric iron supply and suboptimal Fe:N ratios in winter overturned deep water are suggested to result in the formation of this seasonal high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) condition, representing an inefficiency of the biological (soft tissue) carbon pump in the region.

Description: Concentrations of heme b, the iron-containing component of b-type hemoproteins, ranged from 〈 0.4 to 5.3 pM with an average of 1.18 ± 0.8 pM (± 1σ; n = 86) in the Iceland Basin (IB), from 〈 0.4 to 19.1 pM with an average of 2.24 ± 1.67 pM (n = 269) in the tropical northeast Atlantic (TNA) and from 0.6 to 21 pM with an average of 5.1 ± 4.8 pM (n = 34) in the Scotia Sea (SS). Heme b concentrations were enhanced in the photic zone and decreased with depth. Heme b concentrations correlated positively with chlorophyll a (chl a) in the TNA (r = 0.41, p 〈 0.01, n = 269). Heme b did not correlate with chl a in the IB or SS. In the IB and SS, stations with high-chlorophyll and low-nutrient (Fe and/or Si) concentrations exhibited low heme b concentrations relative to particulate organic carbon (〈 0.1 μmol mol−1), and high chl a:heme b ratios (〉 500). High chl a:heme b ratios resulted from relative decreases in heme b, suggesting proteins such as cytochrome b6f, the core complex of photosystem II, and eukaryotic nitrate reductase were depleted relative to proteins containing chlorophyll such as the eukaryotic light-harvesting antenna. Relative variations in heme b, particulate organic carbon, and chl a can thus be indicative of a physiological response of the phytoplankton community to the prevailing growth conditions, within the context of large-scale changes in phytoplankton community composition.

Description: The high-latitude North Atlantic (HLNA) is characterized by a marked seasonal phytoplankton bloom, which removes the majority of surface macronutrients. However, incomplete nitrate depletion is frequently observed during summer in the region, potentially reflecting the seasonal development of an iron (Fe) limited phytoplankton community. In order to investigate the seasonal development and spatial extent of iron stress in the HLNA, nutrient addition experiments were performed during the spring (May) and late summer (July and August) of 2010. Grow-out experiments (48–120 h) confirmed the potential for iron limitation in the region. Short-term (24 h) incubations further enabled high spatial coverage and mapping of phytoplankton physiological responses to iron addition. The difference in the apparent maximal photochemical yield of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv : Fm) between nutrient (iron) amended and control treatments (D(Fv : Fm)) was used as a measure of the relative degree of iron stress. The combined observations indicated variability in the seasonal cycle of iron stress between different regions of the Irminger and Iceland Basins of the HLNA, related to the timing of the annual bloom cycle in contrasting biogeochemical provinces. Phytoplankton iron stress developed during the transition from the prebloom to peak bloom conditions in the HLNA and was more severe for larger cells. Subsequently, iron stress was reduced in regions where macronutrients were depleted following the bloom. Iron availability plays a significant role in the biogeochemistry of the HLNA, potentially lowering the efficiency of one of the strongest biological carbon pumps in the ocean.

Description: During the winter of 2006 we measured nifH gene abundances, dinitrogen (N2) fixation rates and carbon fixation rates in the eastern tropical and sub-tropical North Atlantic Ocean. The dominant diazotrophic phylotypes were filamentous cyanobacteria, which may include Trichodesmium and Katagnymene, with up to 106 L−1 nifH gene copies, unicellular group A cyanobacteria with up to 105 L−1 nifH gene copies and gamma A proteobacteria with up to 104 L−1 nifH gene copies. N2 fixation rates were low and ranged between 0.032–1.28 nmol N L−1 d−1 with a mean of 0.30±0.29 nmol N L−1 d−1 (1σ, n = 65). CO2-fixation rates, representing primary production, appeared to be nitrogen limited as suggested by low dissolved inorganic nitrogen to phosphate ratios (DIN:DIP) of about 2±3.2 in surface waters. Nevertheless, N2 fixation rates contributed only 0.55±0.87% (range 0.03–5.24%) of the N required for primary production. Boosted regression trees analysis (BRT) showed that the distribution of the gamma A proteobacteria and filamentous cyanobacteria nifH genes was mainly predicted by the distribution of Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, picoeukaryotes and heterotrophic bacteria. In addition, BRT indicated that multiple a-biotic environmental variables including nutrients DIN, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and DIP, trace metals like dissolved aluminum (DAl), as a proxy of dust inputs, dissolved iron (DFe) and Fe-binding ligands as well as oxygen and temperature influenced N2 fixation rates and the distribution of the dominant diazotrophic phylotypes. Our results suggest that lower predicted oxygen concentrations and higher temperatures due to climate warming may increase N2 fixation rates. However, the balance between a decreased supply of DIP and DFe from deep waters as a result of more pronounced stratification and an enhanced supply of these nutrients with a predicted increase in deposition of Saharan dust may ultimately determine the consequences of climate warming for N2 fixation in the North Atlantic.