Kerrie Swadling

Trophodynamics of Southern Ocean pteropods on the southern Kerguelen Plateau

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 20-06-2019

DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.5380

“Sinking dead”—How zooplankton carcasses contribute to particulate organic carbon flux in the subantarctic Southern Ocean

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 07-11-2021

DOI: 10.1002/LNO.11971

Abstract: Zooplankton carcasses are an important, yet understudied, pathway of the biological gravitational pump. To understand their contribution to the downward carbon flux in the subantarctic, carcasses of the copepod Neocalanus tonsus were analyzed for carbon content, microbial remineralization rates, and sinking velocities. In addition, the sensitivity of carcass flux to varying mortality, microbial turnover, and sinking velocity rates was analyzed and compared to carbon flux measurements from sediment traps. Microbial decomposition rates (between 0.02 and 0.16 d −1 ) were comparable to those of marine snow, highlighting the importance of carcasses as microbial hotspots. High sinking velocities (730 ± 182 m d −1 ) suggest that particulate organic carbon flux to the deep ocean is substantial. Carcass flux is sensitive to a change in sinking velocity but appears less sensitive to fluctuations in microbial decomposition rate. More research on zooplankton mortality and the factors that influence carcass sinking through the water column is needed to quantify the carcass‐mediated carbon export and enable their inclusion in marine ecosystem and biogeochemical models.

The use of swimmers from sediment traps to measure summer community structure of Southern Ocean pteropods

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-02-2021

DOI: 10.1007/S00300-021-02809-4

Antarctic landfast sea ice: Physical, biogeochemical and ecological significance

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 24-10-2022

DOI: 10.1002/ESSOAR.10512682.1

Antarctic Landfast Sea Ice: A Review of Its Physics, Biogeochemistry and Ecology

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 06-2023

DOI: 10.1029/2022RG000770

Abstract: Antarctic landfast sea ice (fast ice) is stationary sea ice that is attached to the coast, grounded icebergs, ice shelves, or other protrusions on the continental shelf. Fast ice forms in narrow (generally up to 200 km wide) bands, and ranges in thickness from centimeters to tens of meters. In most regions, it forms in autumn, persists through the winter and melts in spring/summer, but can remain throughout the summer in particular locations, becoming multi‐year ice. Despite its relatively limited extent (comprising between about 4% and 13% of overall sea ice), its presence, variability and seasonality are drivers of a wide range of physical, biological and biogeochemical processes, with both local and far‐ranging ramifications for the Earth system. Antarctic fast ice has, until quite recently, been overlooked in studies, likely due to insufficient knowledge of its distribution, leading to its reputation as a “missing piece of the Antarctic puzzle.” This review presents a synthesis of current knowledge of the physical, biogeochemical and biological aspects of fast ice, based on the sub‐domains of: fast ice growth, properties and seasonality remote‐sensing and distribution interactions with the atmosphere and the ocean biogeochemical interactions its role in primary production and fast ice as a habitat for grazers. Finally, we consider the potential state of Antarctic fast ice at the end of the 21st Century, underpinned by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project model projections. This review also gives recommendations for targeted future work to increase our understanding of this critically‐important element of the global cryosphere.

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP230100764

Start Date: 05-2023

End Date: 05-2026

Amount: $411,554.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0209308

Start Date: 08-2002

End Date: 06-2007

Amount: $217,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100204

Start Date: 2010

End Date: 12-2010

Amount: $125,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0342815

Start Date: 07-2003

End Date: 06-2006

Amount: $240,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council