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Impacts of basal melting of the Totten Ice Shelf and biological productivity on marine biogeochemical components in Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica
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  • Tetsuya P Tamura,
  • Daiki Nomura,
  • Daisuke Hirano,
  • Takeshi Tamura,
  • Masaaki Kiuchi,
  • Gen Hashida,
  • Ryosuke Makabe,
  • Kazuya Ono,
  • Shuki Ushio,
  • Kaihe Yamazaki,
  • Yoshihiro Nakayama,
  • Keigo D Takahashi,
  • Hiroko Sasaki,
  • Hiroto Murase,
  • Shigeru Aoki
Tetsuya P Tamura
Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University
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Daiki Nomura
Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Daisuke Hirano
National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Polar Research
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Takeshi Tamura
National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Polar Research
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Masaaki Kiuchi
Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University
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Gen Hashida
National Institute for Polar Research, National Institute for Polar Research
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Ryosuke Makabe
National Institute of Polar Research, Japan, National Institute of Polar Research, Japan
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Kazuya Ono
Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University
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Shuki Ushio
National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Polar Research
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Kaihe Yamazaki
Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University
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Yoshihiro Nakayama
Institute of Low Temperature Science, Institute of Low Temperature Science
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Keigo D Takahashi
National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Polar Research
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Hiroko Sasaki
Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency
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Hiroto Murase
Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology
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Shigeru Aoki
Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University
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Abstract

To clarify the impact of basal melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and biological productivity on biogeochemical processes in Antarctic coastal waters, concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), inorganic nutrients, chlorophyll a, and stable oxygen isotopic ratios (δ18O) were measured from the offshore slope to the ice front of the Totten Ice Shelf (TIS) during the spring/summer of 2018, 2019, and 2020. Off the TIS, modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) intruded onto the continental shelf and flowed along bathymetric troughs into the TIS cavity, where it met the ice shelf base and formed a buoyant mixture with glacial meltwater. Physical oceanographic processes mostly determined the distributions of DIC, TA, and nutrient concentrations. However, DIC, TA, and nutrient concentrations on the surface of the ice front were decreased by photosynthesis and the dilution effect of meltwater from sea ice and the base of the ice shelf. The partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in surface water was reduced by photosynthesis and dilution, and the surface water became a strong CO2 sink for the atmosphere. The DIC and TA (normalized to salinity of 34.3 to correct for dilution effects) changed in a molar ratio of 106:16 because of phytoplankton photosynthesis. The decrease of pCO2 by more than 100 μatm with respect to mCDW was thus the result of photosynthesis. The nutrient consumption ratio suggested that enough iron was present in the water column to supply the surface layer via buoyancy-driven upwelling and basal melting of the TIS.