Low cobalt inventories in the Amundsen and Ross seas driven  by high demand for labile cobalt uptake among native phytoplankton communities

Chmiel, Rebecca J.; Kell, Riss M.; Rao, Deepa; Moran, Dawn M.; DiTullio, Giacomo R.; Saito, Mak A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3997-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3997-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3997-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 19

Research article

|

04 Oct 2023

Research article |

| 04 Oct 2023

Low cobalt inventories in the Amundsen and Ross seas driven by high demand for labile cobalt uptake among native phytoplankton communities

Rebecca J. Chmiel, Riss M. Kell, Deepa Rao, Dawn M. Moran, Giacomo R. DiTullio, and Mak A. Saito

Data sets

Total dissolved cobalt and labile dissolved cobalt distributions measured by shipboard voltammetry in the Amundsen Sea, Ross Sea, and Terra Nova Bay during the CICLOPS expedition on RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer (NBP1801) from Dec 2017 to Feb 2018. M. A. Saito https://doi.org/10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.893487.1

Total dissolved metal concentrations measured during the 2017-2018 CICLOPS expedition. R. Kellogg and M. A. Saito https://doi.org/10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.877466.1

Total Zn and Cd uptake rates of natural phytoplankton assemblages measured during the 2017-2018 CICLOPS expedition. R. Kellogg and M. A. Saito https://doi.org/10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.877681.1

Dissolved nutrient data from RVIB Nathaniel B Palmer cruise (NBP18-01) in the Amundsen and Ross Seas from December 2017 to March 2018. M. A. Saito and G. DiTullio https://doi.org/10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.874841.1

Short summary

Cobalt is an important micronutrient for plankton, yet it is often scarce throughout the oceans. A 2017/2018 expedition to coastal Antarctica, including regions of the Amundsen Sea and the Ross Sea, discovered lower concentrations of cobalt compared to two past expeditions in 2005 and 2006, particularly for the type of cobalt preferred as a nutrient by phytoplankton. This loss may be due to changing inputs of other nutrients, causing higher uptake of cobalt by plankton over the last decade.