Research Objectives:
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation influences plankton in the near-surface waters of most ecosystems. In particular, the Southern Ocean is affected in the austral spring, when UV radiation is enhanced by ozone depletion. While progress has been made in estimating the impact of UV radiation on bacteria and phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean, important issues remain to be resolved. Little is known, for example, about responses in systems dominated by the colonial haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica, which dominates spring blooms in the southern Ross Sea. The presence of open water at a far southerly location in the spring, well within the ozone hole, and continuous daylight, with implications for DNA repair, make the Ross Sea of intense interest.
A number of studies suggest that vertical mixing can significantly modify the impact of UV radiation. However, the limited measurements of turbulence intensity in the surface layer that have been done have not been integrated with parallel studies of the effects of UV radiation on phytoplankton and bacterioplankton. To address these issues, investigators will focus on vertical mixing and UV radiation in the Ross Sea and characterize phytoplankton and bacterioplankton responses in both laboratory and solar incubations. These studies will lead to biological weighting functions and response models capable of predicting the impact of UV radiation on photosynthesis, bacterial incorporation, and DNA damage in the surface layer.
Researchers will use measure depth-dependent profiles of DNA damage, bacterial incorporation, photosynthesis, and fluorescence parameters over a 24-hour cycle. They have optimized measurements for typical springtime conditions in the Ross Sea, where stabilizing influences like solar heating and/or surface freshwater from melting ice mean that not enough turbulence is present to thoroughly mix the upper layer.
Researchers will develop fine-scale vertical density profiles to directly estimate large eddy scales. Estimated turbulent diffusivities and eddy scales will be directly related to surface layer effects and used to generate models of UV radiation responses in the surface mixed layer.
This first in-depth study of UV radiation in the Ross Sea will enhance scientific understanding of vertical mixing processes, trophic interactions, and biogeochemical cycling in the Ross Sea and will provide a valuable comparison with previous work in the Weddell-Scotia Confluence and Palmer Station regions.
