Trace metal distributions in the Southern Ocean: influence of hydrographic and biologic processes

Abstract

This thesis describes a study on the distribution of the trace metals Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd and the major nutrients phosphate, nitrate and dissolved silica (Si) in the Southern Ocean. The influence of hydrographic and biological processes, atmospheric dust- and shelf-input and sea ice melting on the trace metal- and major nutrient-distribution in the surface and the deep water has been estimated. Dissolved Fe is shown to be one factor limiting primary production in this High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) area. The gap in the global Cd-phosphate data set between the data of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific/Indian Ocean was partially filled with the obtained Cd-phosphate data of the Southern Ocean.