Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sigleo, A.C.
Right arrow Articles by Spector, A.M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Sigleo, A.C.
Right arrow Articles by Spector, A.M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Plankton Research Vol.22 no.10 pp.1989-2006, 2000
© Oxford University Press 2000

Phytoplankton pigments at the Weddell–Scotia confluence during the 1993 austral spring

A.C. Sigleo, P.J. Neale1 and A.M. Spector1

US Environmental Protection Agency, Western Ecology Division, 2111 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR 97365-5260 and College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Newport, OR 97365 and 1 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, PO Box 28, Edgewater, MD 20715, USA

During a 1993 austral spring cruise, a complex biomass was encountered near South Orkney Island that ranged from a low-biomass, Chaetoceros tortissimus assemblage south of the front towards the ice edge, to a high-biomass, Thalassiosira gravida-dominated assemblage at the northern edge. The maximum levels of chlorophyll (Chl) a (up to 6 mg m–3) were higher than those observed in previous high-performance liquid chromatography-based studies of pigments in the pelagic Southern Ocean. The non-photosynthetic pigment chlorophyllide a comprised up to 75% of the chlorophyllous pigments in the southern assemblage, but < 5% in the northern assemblage. Concentrations of the xanthophylls diadinoxanthin (DD) and diatoxanthin (DT), used as indicators of mean irradiance, indicated low-light-adapted populations. Low-light DD + DT/Chl a ratios in surface waters indicated that vertical mixing limited phytoplankton residence time in the near-surface layer, and thus limited exposure to maximum irradiance. Deck incubations of natural assemblages indicated that the dark epoxidation reaction (i.e. the return of DT to DD) was a two-step reaction with the initial rate being more rapid (t1/2 = 9.5 min) than the second (t1/2 = 55 min). Fucoxanthin, a major diatom pigment, was more stable chemically in the water column than Chl a, and the vertical profiles of fucoxanthin followed those of chlorophyllide a in some cases. The formation and apparent stability of chlorophyllide a and fucoxanthin are important considerations when estimating photosynthetically active biomass over large regions of the ocean.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
T. Fujiki, T. Toda, T. Kikuchi, and S. Taguchi
Photoprotective response of xanthophyll pigments during phytoplankton blooms in Sagami Bay, Japan
J. Plankton Res., March 1, 2003; 25(3): 317 - 322.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.