Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 492 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstracts of the referenced papers: Diatom assemblages in two Holocene sediment cores (GC1 and GC2) from the Mac. Robertson Shelf, East Antarctica, are compared with modern sedimentary diatom assemblages from the same area. Open marine deposition commenced in Iceberg Alley (GC1), on the outer continental shelf, greater than 10.7 adj. 14C kyr BP. Chaetoceros resting spores, which may indicate water-column stabilsation from melting glacial and/or sea ice or the maximum summer sea-ice retreat, dominate the diatom assemblage. Approximately 7.5 adj. 14C kyr BP, a sea-ice diatom assemblage was deposited. This assemblage is similar to that being deposited in the surface sediments of the Mac. Robertson Shelf today and suggests that perennial sea ice has persisted in the vicinity of Iceberg Alley since that time. Interbedded within the sea-ice assemblage, however, are Corethron-rich sediment layers that suggest mid- to late-Holocene high-productivity events associated with a climatic optimum. The diatom record from Nielsen Basin (GC2), on the inner continental shelf, is relatively uniform compared to that in GC1. Glacial ice was present over the region c. greater than 5.6 adj. 14C kyr BP and a dissolution diatom assemblage was deposited beneath it. following ice retreat, an ice-edge diatom assemblage was deposited briefly before sea-ice conditions similar to that on the continental shelf today developed. There is no evidence in GC2 for the mid- to late-Holocene high-productivity events identified in GC1. Four diatom assemblages are identified from the surface sediments of Prydz Bay and the Mac. Robertson Shelf using multivariate analysis. A coastal assemblage is characterised by the sea-ice diatoms Fragilariopsis curta, F. angulata, F. cylindrus and Pseudonitzschia turgiduloides. A continental shelf assemblage is characterised by the open-water diatoms Fragilariopsis kerguelensis, Thalassiosira lenuginosa, T. gracilis var. expecta and Trichotoxin reinboldii. The Cape Darnley assemblage contains both sea-ice and open-water diatoms, but all are characteristically large and heavily silicified. Multiple regression has been used to identify the relationships between the diatom assemblages and known environmental variables. There are strong correlations between the coastal, shelf and oceanic assemblages and ecological conditions, including latitude, sea-ice distribution and ocean currents. The Cape Darnley assemblage is thought to represent an assemblage from which the smaller and more lightly silicified species have been removed by current winnowing. The palaeo-depositional environment of inner Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, has been reconstructed for the past 21,320 14C yr B.P., using diatom assemblages and sediment facies from a short, 352 cm long gravity core. Between 21,320 and 11,650 14C yr B.P., compact tillite and diamicton are present in the core, and diatom frustules are rare to absent. These data suggest that an ice sheet grounded over the site during the last glacial maximum. Following glacial retreat, siliceous muddy ooze was deposited, from 11,650 to 2600 14C yr B.P., in an open marine setting. During this stage, diatom frustules are abundant and well preserved, and Thalassiosira antarctica resting spores and Fragilariopsis curta dominate the assemblage. This assemblage suggests open marine deposition in an environment where the spatial and temporal distribution of sea ice is less than today. Since 2600 14C yr B.P., sea-ice and ice-edge diatom species have become more abundant, and neoglacial cooling is inferred. The assemblage is similar to that forming currently in Prydz Bay, where sea-ice is absent (less than 10% cover) for 2-3 months of the year and permanent ice edge and/or multiyear sea ice remains in close proximity to the site.

This thesis was conducted under the auspices of the Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey. The research conducted had the dual aims of providing baseline data for this long-term monitoring program and providing the first detailed analysis of zooplankton communities and distribution patterns in the Southern Ocean south of Australia. Data were principally collected between October 2001 and March 2002, during five voyages. As a primary step I investigated the sampling characteristics of CPR, and assessed the utility of the CPR as a long-term monitoring apparatus in the Southern Ocean. Given the shallow sampling depth of the CPR (~10.5m), a major requirement of this calibration was quantification of the fine-scale vertical distributions zooplankton. This was done through direct comparison of CPR samples with depth integrated NORPAC net hauls. The CPR-NORPAC comparison identified the component of the zooplankton sampled by the CPR and provided a means for comparison between past and present data sets. As a final component of this calibration, it was demonstrated that the CPR was effective at identifying biogeographic boundaries. An essential requirement for the identification of long-term ecological change is baseline data on natural ecosystem variability, particularly seasonality. Therefore, after calibration of the CPR the two fundamental components of spatial and seasonal variability were investigated. Firstly, the fine-scale horizontal structure of zooplankton communities was quantified from a 1170 nautical mile transect, along the 140oE meridian, spanning all of the major oceanographic zones south of Australia. Applying multivariate analyses a unique community zonation was identified which was strongly related to the complex oceanographic environment, characterised by multiple branches of the major fronts. The seasonal component of temporal variability was investigated separately in two major and distinctly different regions, the Seasonal Ice Zone and the Sub-Antarctic / Polar Frontal Zone. Multivariate analyses were used to quantify seasonal changes in species composition, Bray-Curtis dissimilarity, species densities, and the proportional contribution of species to communities. The spatial and temporal variation of zooplankton community structure was discussed in the light of environmental controls, species' vertical distributions, population cycles, and ecosystem functioning. Finally,the application of these data to long-term monitoring was discussed, and recommendations made for future research. The fields in this dataset are: CPR Segment Number Time (GMT) Date Latitude Longitude Segment Length (nautical miles) Salinity Sea Surface Temperature Species Fish Larvae Fish Scales Egg Mass Volume Bongo CTD Depth

Large volumes of water (200 - 500 L) were filtered and fractionated by size for various planktonic components: eukaryotic phytoplankton, prokaryotic picoplankton, and marine viruses. Sample sites were chosen to generate the widest diversity, and included planktonic blooms, oligotrophic zones, small polynyas near sea ice, nearshore areas, and Antarctic bottom water from coastal, canyon and deepwater areas. Half of each sample will be used for DNA library construction, and the other half will be used for meta-proteomic analysis. Random shotgun sequencing of the marine genomic libraries should produce a metagenomic snapshot of planktonic life in a variety of marine habitats. This work was completed as part of ASAC project 2899 (ASAC_2899).

Large volumes of water (200 - 500 L) were filtered and fractionated by size for various planktonic components: eukaryotic phytoplankton, prokaryotic picoplankton, and marine viruses. Sample sites were chosen to generate the widest diversity, and included planktonic blooms, oligotrophic zones, small polynyas near sea ice, nearshore areas, and Antarctic bottom water from coastal, canyon and deepwater areas. Half of each sample will be used for DNA library construction, and the other half will be used for meta-proteomic analysis. Random shotgun sequencing of the marine genomic libraries should produce a metagenomic snapshot of planktonic life in a variety of marine habitats. This work was completed as part of ASAC project 2899 (ASAC_2899).

Metadata record for data expected ASAC Project 2382 See the link below for public details on this project. This entry contains: Locations for sampling sites for ASAC project 2382 on voyage 3 of the Aurora Australis in the 2004/5 season, collected between December and February of 2004/5; CTD bottle-derived seawater viscosity data and CTD bottle-derived in vivo fluorescence data. There are four spreadsheet files in this download file. Each spreadsheet file contains several worksheets. 1) I9_Stations.xls: Transect 1 (CLIVAR I9 = 'I9') station and sampling details: CTD stations, CTD profiles, Surface samples. 2) PET_Stations.xls: Transect 2 (Kerguelen Plateau and Princess Elizabeth Trough = 'PET') station and sampling details: CTD stations, CTD profiles. 3) Viscosity.xls: Viscosity data. 4) Fluorescence.xls: In vivo fluorescence data. For all files -999 = missing data A word document details the sampling protocols for viscosity and in vivo fluorescence. Note: ASAC project 2382 operates in direct collaboration with ASAC project 2596 (Three-dimensional microscale distribution and production of plankton populations).

The productivity of Antarctic waters may be controlled by the amount of iron. Experiments have shown that this is probably the case for phytoplankton but as yet we do not know if iron limits the growth of sea ice algae. This study will assess whether iron limits sea ice algae production and will conduct experiments to work out how these algae use iron. Measurements have been made to determine whether sea ice algae are limited by Fe. Sea ice samples were taken and this spreadsheet refers to those ice cores Columns A-G are self explanatory Column G is the depth in the ice core from the bottom Column H is the chlorophyll concentration in mg Chl m-2 Column I is the phaeophytin concentration in mg m-2 J is the total amount of protein in the sample ng m-2 K is the total amount of the protein flavodoxin ng m-2 L is the total amount of ferrodoxin ng m-2 These last two enable the Fe limitation status to calculated (not completed).

The variation in the phytoplankton biomass over a decadal time scale, and its relationship with the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW) and climate change, has been poorly interpreted because of the limited satellite chlorophylla (chl a) data compared with the physical parameters from satellite. We analysed a long-term chl a dataset along the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) cruise tracks since 1965 to investigate inter-annual variation of phytoplankton biomass. In the Southern Ocean, increasing trends of chl a and the spreading of higher chl a area to the north with 3-7 year cycles were found. Although relationships between the decadal change in chl a and climate change such as variation of sea ice extent and the El Nino are still obscure, large variation of primary production in proportion to the chl a is implied. The chl a concentration of sea surface water has been measured routinely on board the icebreakers Fuji and Shirase during almost every cruise of the JARE. The download file contains chlorophyll a data collected from ship tracks on JARE voyages between 1965 and 2002. The field in this dataset are: Date (local time) Year Latitude Longitude Corrected Chlorophyll a See the attached paper for more details. The publications on the data collected during the 1965-1976 and 1988-1993 cruises are listed in Fukuchi [1980] and Suzuki and Fukuchi [1997], respectively. For data on the 1977-1985 and 1994-1997 cruises, see [Kanda and Fukuchi, 1979; Fukuchi and Tamura, 1982; Tanimura, 1981; Watanabe and Nakajima, 1983; Ino and Fukuchi, 1984; Sasaki, 1984; Hamada et al., 1985; Fukuda et al., 1986; Hattori and Fukuchi, 1988; Midorikawa et al., 2000]. Data post 1998-2002 cruises is in Hirawake and Fukuchi [2004]. Data from the 1986-1987 will be published in the JARE data report of digital media, including all cruise data. Auxiliary Material for paper 2004GL021394 Long-term variation of surface phytoplankton chlorophyll a in the Southern Ocean during 1965-2002. Toru Hirawake, Tsuneo Odate and Mitsuo Fukuchi (National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo) Geophys. Res. Lett., Vol (Num), doi:10.1029/2004GL021394 All of the chl a data have been reported in the publications of the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR).

The abundance, biomass, and diversity of microzooplankton and their herbivorous impact on phytoplankton were examined on a cross shelf transect (see thumbnail), sampling five stations from February 2002 to December 2004, and in a pair of mesoscale eddies ~300km from the coast on the seaward side of the Leeuwin Current. Prior to this study, no research on microzooplankton from temperate waters off Western Australia had been undertaken.

Bio-optical measurements (radiometry, spectral backscatter, attenuation, absorption) for particle and phytoplankton characterisation acquired during Australian Marine National Facility RV Investigator voyage IN2016_V01. The biooptical package consisted of SeaBird 19plus CTD, Satlantic HyperOCR upwelling radiance and downwelling irradiance sensors, WetLabs ac-9, HobiLabs Hydroscat-6. At selected stations the bio-optical package was lowered to the depth of 240 m (or 20 m above the sea bottom if the depth was lower than 260 m) at 20 m/minute. The radiometric measurements were taken only during the day. Parameters measured: SeaBird CTD (4 Hz frequency): - Temperature - Salinity - Pressure - PAR - Fluorescence - Oxygen Satlantic HyperOCR: - Upwelling radiance (Lu) - spectral - Downwelling irradiance (Ed) – spectral - Pressure HobiLabs Hydroscat: - Backscattering coefficient at 6 wavelengths (442, 488, 550, 589, 676, 850 nm) - Fluorescence (550, 676 nm) - Pressure WetLabs ac-9 (2 Hz frequency) - Light absorption coefficient at 9 wavelengths (412, 440, 488, 510, 532, 555, 650, 676, 715 nm) - Light attenuation coefficient at 9 wavelengths (412, 440, 488, 510, 532, 555, 650, 676, 715 nm) At some stations transmissometer data at 650 nm using the Wetlabs c-Star were collected. Data type product(s) created: raw and calibrated data files were created on board, processed and quality controlled files (.dat and/or .csv) will be available by the end of 2016. Owner of instrument: CSIRO Units: CTD data: units given in the header Hydroscat data: bbp_HEOBI_all: all bbp in m^-1, slope unitless Calibrated: depth in m, all bb in m^-1,all betabb sr^-1 m^-1 Radiometers: all Ed uW/cm^2/nm All Lu uW/cm^2/nm/sr Depth is always given in meters. See the metadata file in the download for more information.

Metadata record for data from AAS (ASAC) project 3046. Public The overall objective is to characterise the response of Southern Ocean calcareous zooplankton to ocean acidification resulting from anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Simulated increases in anthropogenic CO2 suggest a reduction in the calcification rates of calcareous organisms. A change in the calcification in the Southern Ocean may cause marine ecosystem shifts and in turn alter the capacity for the ocean to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. We plan to take advantage of naturally-occurring, persistent, zonal variations in Southern Ocean primary production and biomass to investigate the effects of CO2 addition from anthropogenic sources on Southern Ocean calcareous zooplankton communities. A download file containing an excel spreadsheet of data can be found at the provided URL. Project objectives: The overall objective of this project is to characterise the impacts of recent, primarily anthropogenic, increases in atmospheric CO2 and related changes in the carbonate chemistry on shell formation by calcareous zooplankton in the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean. Calcareous zooplankton (e.g. planktonic foraminifera and pteropods) will be collected using plankton nets at five Southern Ocean localities during high seasonal flux periods. Planktonic foraminiferal and pteropod species and abundances, calcification rates and geochemistry (stable isotope and trace-metal) will be determined on plankton tow samples. Data from recent plankton tow samples will be compared with data deposited historically in the Southern Ocean and recovered from existing deep ocean sediment cores to provides insights about the extent to which modern carbon conditions may have already generated ecological impacts. The project will also provide a baseline of the present-day impact of ocean acidification and can be used to monitor the influence of future anthropogenic CO2 emissions in Southern Ocean ecosystems. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: Because of logistical delays to the Aurora Australis shipping schedule, ship time for this project was deferred to the 2009/2010 season. We have made progress in analysing other materials form previous voyages which will assist in the sampling design for the upcoming season. We are making good progress in planning the upcoming voyage currently scheduled for late 2009. Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: Project scientists participated in Voyage 2 of the Aurora Australis, from Hobart to Casey Station in December 2009. Using the Rectangular Midwater Trawl we collected a total of eight plankton samples for examination of calcareous plankton distribution and shell characteristics in the summer Southern Ocean. We were targeting pteropods and planktonic foraminifera, two sets of calcifiers whose calcification response to ocean acidification we had previously reported on in publications in Nature Geoscience, Biogeosciences Discussions, and Deep-Sea Research Part II (in press). Project participants included collaborators from Australian National University and Scottish Natural Heritage, UK. There were low abundance of planktonic calclfiers in this particular seasons and sector, but we consider the initial collection a god start. Samples included approx. 18 pteropods; other samples are still being held by Biosecurity Australia and will be examined as soon as they are released. Other samples have already been sent to researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science for genetic (RNA) sequencing. This latter collaboration is a key one which will help answer questions about evolutionary responses to ocean acidification; if there are genotypes which are more or less vulnerable to acidification we may already be seeing selective pressure in the ecosystem and a change in the structure of assemblages as "winners" and "losers" are differentially affected by the impact.