In this study we report full‐depth water column profiles for nitrogen and oxygen isotopic composition (δ 15 N and δ 18 O) of nitrate (NO 3 − ) during the GEOTRACES GA01 cruise (2014). This transect intersects the double gyre system of the subtropical and subpolar regions of the North Atlantic separated by a strong transition zone, the North Atlantic Current. The distribution of NO 3 − δ 15 N and δ 18 O shows that assimilation by phytoplankton is the main process controlling the NO 3 − isotopic composition in the upper 150 m, with values increasing in a NO 3 − δ 18 O versus δ 15 N space along a line with a slope of one toward the surface. In the subpolar gyre, a single relationship between the degree of NO 3 − consumption and residual NO 3 − δ 15 N supports the view that NO 3 − is supplied via Ekman upwelling and deep winter convection, and progressively consumed during the Ekman transport of surface water southward. The co‐occurrence of partial NO 3 − assimilation and nitrification in the deep mixed layer of the subpolar gyre elevates subsurface NO 3 − δ 18 O in comparison to deep oceanic values. This signal propagates through isopycnal exchanges to greater depths at lower latitudes. With recirculation in the subtropical gyre, cycles of quantitative consumption‐nitrification progressively decrease subsurface NO 3 − δ 18 O toward the δ 18 O of regenerated NO 3 − . The low NO 3 − δ 15 N observed south of the Subarctic Front is mostly explained by N 2 fixation, although a contribution from the Mediterranean outflow is required to explain the lower NO 3 − δ 15 N signal observed between 600 and 1500 m depth close to the Iberian margin.

Winter to summer CO(2)dynamics within landfast sea ice in McMurdo Sound (Antarctica) were investigated using bulk ice pCO(2)measurements, air-snow-ice CO(2)fluxes, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), and ikaite saturation state. Our results suggest depth-dependent biotic and abiotic controls that led us to discriminate the ice column in three layers. At the surface, winter pCO(2)supersaturation drove CO(2)release to the atmosphere while spring-summer pCO(2)undersaturation led to CO(2)uptake most of the time. CO(2)fluxes showed a diel pattern superimposed upon this seasonal pattern which was potentially assigned to either ice skin freeze-thaw cycles or diel changes in net community production. In the ice interior, the pCO(2)decrease across the season was driven by physical processes, mainly independent of the autotrophic and heterotrophic phases. Bottom sea ice was characterized by a massive biomass build-up counterintuitively associated with transient heterotrophic activity and nitrate plus nitrite accumulation. This inconsistency is likely related to the formation of a biofilm. This biofilm hosts both autotrophic and heterotrophic activities at the bottom of the ice during spring and may promote calcium carbonate precipitation.

23 Winter to summer CO2 dynamics within landfast sea ice in McMurdo Sound (Antarctica) were 24 investigated using bulk ice pCO2 measurements, air-snow-ice CO2 fluxes, dissolved inorganic 25 carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA) and ikaite saturation state. Our results suggest depth26 dependent biotic and abiotic controls that led us to discriminate the ice column in three layers. At 27 the surface, winter pCO2 supersaturation drove CO2 release to the atmosphere while spring28 summer pCO2 undersaturation led to CO2 uptake most of the time. CO2 fluxes showed a diel 29 pattern superimposed upon this seasonal pattern which was potentially assigned to either ice skin 30 freeze-thaw cycles or diel changes in net community production. In the ice interior, the pCO2 31 decrease across the season was driven by physical processes, mainly independent of the 32 autotrophic and heterotrophic phases. Bottom sea ice was characterized by a massive biomass 33 build-up counterintuitively associated with transient heterotrophic activity and nitrate plus nitrite 34 accumulation. This inconsistency is likely related to the formation of a biofilm. This biofilm 35 hosts both autotrophic and heterotrophic activities at the bottom of the ice during spring and may 36 promote calcium carbonate precipitation. 37 Plain Language Summary 38 Sea ice participates actively in the regional cycling of CO2 both as a source and a sink at 39 different times of the year depending on ice physics, ice chemistry and ice trophic status 40 (autotrophic vs heterotrophic). We identified the key processes driving the CO2 dynamics in each 41 sea ice layer (surface, interior and bottom) from McMurdo Sound (Antarctica) from late winter 42 to summer. At the surface, CO2 release from the ice to the atmosphere occurred in late winter 43 while CO2 uptake occurred in summer. Superimposed upon this seasonal pattern, we observed a 44 diurnal pattern with both release and uptake occurring over 24 h period. This diurnal pattern can 45 be related to physical processes (nocturnal freeze-up and diurnal melting) or biotic processes 46 (autotrophy or heterotrophy). In the ice interior, a succession of autotrophic and heterotrophic 47 phases took place. At the sea ice bottom, a particular assemblage of microbial cells and organic 48 matter, called biofilm, enabled the accumulation of biomass and nitrate plus nitrite 49 simultaneously leading to both autotrophic and heterotrophic activities. In addition, this biofilm 50 is suggested to promote calcium carbonate precipitation. 51

We use field observations from late spring and a one‐dimensional sea‐ice model to explore a high nutrient, high chlorophyll system in Antarctic land‐fast ice. Lack of variability in chlorophyll a concentration and organic carbon content over the 17‐day sampling period suggests a balance between macronutrient sources and biological uptake. Nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, and ammonium were measured at concentrations well above salinity‐predicted levels, indicating nutrient accumulation fueled by remineralization processes. However, silicic acid (DSi) was depleted relative to seawater and was potentially limiting. One‐dimensional physical‐biogeochemical sea‐ice model simulations at the observation site achieve extremely high algal growth and DSi uptake with a DSi half‐saturation constant used for pelagic diatoms (KSi = 3.9 μM) and are not sufficiently improved by tuning the DSi:carbon ratio or DSi remineralization rate. In contrast, diatom biomass in the bottom ice, which makes up 70% of the observed chlorophyll, is simulated using KSi an order of magnitude higher (50 μM), a value similar to that measured in a few Antarctic diatom cultures. Some sea‐ice diatoms may therefore experience limitation at relatively high ambient DSi concentrations compared to pelagic diatoms. Our study highlights the urgent need for observational data on sea‐ice algal affinity for DSi to further support this hypothesis. A lower algal growth rate increases model predictions of DSi in the upper sea ice to more accurate concentrations. The model currently does not account for the non‐diatom communities that dominate those layers, and thus, modeling diatom communities overpredicts DSi uptake in the upper ice.

Antarctic sea ice is an important temporal reservoir of iron which can boost primary production in the marginal ice zone during the seasonal melt. While studies have reported that Antarctic fast ice bears high concentrations of iron due to the proximity to coastal sources, less clear are the biogeochemical changes this iron pool undergoes during late spring. Here we describe a 3-week time series of physical and biogeochemical data, including iron, from first-year coastal fast ice sampled near Davis Station (Prydz Bay, East Antarctica) during late austral spring 2015. Our study shows that dissolved and particulate iron concentrations in sea ice were up to two orders of magnitude higher than in under-ice seawater. Furthermore, our results indicate a significant contribution of lithogenic iron from the Vestfold Hills (as deduced from the comparison with crustal element ratios) to the particulate iron pool in fast ice after a blizzard event halfway through the time series. Windblown dust represented approximately 75% of the particulate iron found in the ice and is a potential candidate for keeping concentrations of soluble iron stable during our observations. These results suggest that iron entrapped during ice formation, likely from sediments, as well as local input of coastal dust, supports primary productivity in Davis fast ice. As ice-free land areas are likely to expand over the course of the century, this work highlights the need to quantify iron inputs from continental Antarctic dust and its bioavailability for ice algae and phytoplankton.

The East Siberian Sea and contiguous western Arctic Ocean basin are characterized by a subsurface nutrient maximum in the halocline, generally attributed to both Pacific inflow and intensive remineralization in shelf bottom waters that are advected into the central basin. We report nitrogen and oxygen isotopic measurement of nitrate from the East Siberian Sea and western Eurasian Basin, in order to gain insight into how nitrate is processed by the microbial community and redistributed in the Arctic Ocean. A large decoupling between nitrate δ15N and δ18O is reported, increasing and decreasing upward from the Atlantic temperature maximum layer toward the surface, respectively. A correlation between water and nitrate δ18O indicates that most of the nitrate (> 60%) at the halocline has been regenerated within the Arctic Ocean. The increase in nitrate δ15N correlates with the fixed N deficit, indicating a causal link between the loss of fixed N and the 15N enrichment. This suggests that a significant share of benthic denitrification is driven by nitrate supplied by remineralization and partial nitrification, allowing residual 15N‐enriched ammonium to diffuse out of the sediments. By increasing nutrient concentrations and fixed N deficit in shelf bottom waters, this imprint is attenuated offshore following advection into the halocline by nitrate regeneration and mixing. Estimation of the sedimentary isotope effect related to benthic denitrification yields values in the range of 2.4–3.8‰, with its magnitude driven by both the degree of coupling between remineralization and nitrification, and fixed N concentrations in shelf bottom waters.

Abstract. In this study, we report Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) export fluxes estimated using the 234 Th-based approach in different biogeochemical basins of the North Atlantic, as part of the GEOTRACES GA01 expedition (GEOVIDE, May–June 2014). Surface POC export fluxes were deduced by combining export fluxes of 234 Th with the POC to 234 Th ratio of sinking particles at the depth of export. Particles were collected in two size classes (> 53 µm and 1–53 µm) using in-situ pumps and the large size fraction was considered as representative of sinking material. Surface POC export fluxes revealed latitudinal variations between provinces ranging from 1.4 mmol C m −2 d −1 in the Irminger basin where the bloom was close to its maximum peak, to 12 mmol C m −2 d −1 near the Iberian Margin where the bloom had already declined. In addition to the bloom staging, the variations of POC export fluxes were also related to the phytoplankton community structure. In line with previous studies, the presence of coccolithophorids and diatoms appeared to increase the POC export flux while stations dominated by pico-phytoplankton cells, such as cyanobacteria, were characterized by lower fluxes. The surface POC export fluxes were then compared to in-situ and satellite primary production (PP) in order to assess the export efficiency. This ratio strongly varied regionally and was generally low (≤ 14 %), except at two stations located near the Iberian margin (35 %) and within the Labrador basin (38 %), which were characterized by unusual low in-situ PP. We thus conclude that the North Atlantic during this period was not as efficient in exporting carbon from the surface, as described in recent studies. Finally, we estimated the flux of POC exported 100 m below the surface export depth in order to investigate the transfer efficiency along the section. This parameter was also highly regional-dependent but the lowest attenuation of the POC flux was observed at stations where coccolithophorids dominated.