The significant inputs of trace elements and rare earth elements from melting glaciers in Antarctic coastal waters

Figures & data

Fig. 1  Location of Marian Cove near the Korean Antarctic station, King Sejong, on King George Island. Sampling sites for seawater, ice floats and snow are indicated.

Table 1 Measured concentrations of trace elements for the certified material (CASS-4 and NASS-5) (±1σ, n=3).

	Certified reference material (unit: µg/L)
	CASS-4		NASS-5
Element	Reference value	This study	Reference value	This study
Cr	0.14±0.02	0.09±0.05	0.11±0.02	0.03±0.03
Mn	2.78±0.19	2.91±0.07	0.92±0.06	1.24±0.16
Fe	0.71±0.06	0.50±0.10	0.30±0.04	0.65±0.10
Co	0.03±0.00	0.03±0.01	0.01±0.00	0.01±0.01
Ni	0.31±0.03	0.34±0.08	0.25±0.03	0.27±0.07
Cu	0.59±0.06	0.70±0.03	0.30±0.04	0.50±0.13
Zn	0.38±0.06	0.21±0.25	0.10±0.04	0.05±0.2
Cd	0.03±0.00	0.02±0.02	0.02±0.00	0.02±0.01
Pb	0.01±0.00	0.02±0.04	0.01±0.01	0.01±0.00

Table 2 The concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), phosphorus (DIP), silicate (DSi) and trace elements in seawater, glacier floats and snow samples.

Station no.	Salinity	Fe (nM)	DOC (µM)	DIN (µM)	DIP (µM)	DSi (µM)	Al (nM)	Cr (pM)	Mn (nM)	Co (pM)	Ni (nM)	Cu (nM)	Zn (nM)	Cd (pM)	Pb (pM)
Seawater
MC1	35.0	0.09	40	22	1.1	64	2.1	60	0.06	15	0.51	0.64	0.71	28	79
MC2	34.6	0.15	44	26	1.3	65	2.7	62	0.13	22	0.49	1.5	1.0	28	50
MC3	34.3	0.10	45	24	0.9	100	18	61	0.15	23	0.55	1.1	1.2	27	120
MC4	34.3	0.20	38	22	0.6	136	24	60	0.07	29	0.54	0.02	2.9	35	30
MC5	33.3	1.11	52	27	4.8	106	6.4	66	0.54	61	0.62	0.02	2.7	27	48
MC6	31.1	2.99	44	23	0.7	59	33	97	0.57	77	0.60	0.13	2.0	25	120
MC7	32.0	3.76	45	23	2.1	61	8.5	84	0.74	110	0.69	0.65	1.0	30	97
MC8	32.6	1.36	43	13	0.4	84	27	63	1.6	73	0.52	0.81	0.94	20	66
Floating iceberg
1	0	13.7	20	5.5	0.5	1.3	11	116	223	1030	3.92	2.2	28	26	920
2	0	38.1	31	3.5	0.4	1.4	189	241	0.45	73	3.08	8.1	7.7	11	270
3	0	8.6	67	3.1	0.4	1.4	34	182	1.7	35	0.93	2.0	8.4	5.7	410
4	0	8.1	43	3.3	0.4	1.2	6.2	121	1.9	48	0.73	2.2	8.3	4	190
5	0	2.1	57	2.7	0.4	1.1	3.6	29	0.49	17	0.36	0.72	2.7	2.0	90
Snow melts
1	0	12.5	26	6.6	0.2	30	115	59	11	260	1.33	0.87	1.5	13	160
2	0	4.0	31	7.2	0.1	20	102	139	8.0	2450	1.56	5.7	20	12	260
3	0	2.6	44	6.4	0.2	19	331	173	22	6830	4.25	14	20	25	340
4	0	6.1	28	6.2	0.2	18	12	129	3.7	170	0.18	0.82	2.4	4.3	88
5	0	29.2	43	5.7	0.2	32	219	258	17	5280	3.16	12	19	26	550

Table 3 The concentrations of dissolved rare earth elements (REE) in seawater, glacier floats and snow samples.

	REE (pM)
Station no.	Y	La	Ce	Pr	Nd	Sm	Eu	Gd	Tb	Dy	Ho	Er	Yb	Lu
Seawater
MC1	16.3	4.9	5.1	0.9	4.4	0.9	0.2	1.0	0.2	0.9	0.20	0.65	0.61	0.11
MC2	19.9	8.0	10.2	1.4	6.5	1.4	0.3	1.5	0.2	1.3	0.27	0.83	0.72	0.11
MC3	13.1	4.9	4.6	0.7	3.6	0.7	0.2	0.8	0.1	0.7	0.17	0.55	0.50	0.08
MC4	16.6	6.4	7.9	1.2	5.6	1.2	0.3	1.4	0.2	1.2	0.24	0.76	0.66	0.10
MC5	23.0	12.1	19.3	2.7	12.6	2.4	0.6	2.6	0.3	1.7	0.33	0.99	0.77	0.12
MC6	21.3	17.6	31.2	3.5	16.2	3.3	0.8	3.5	0.4	2.2	0.41	1.20	0.91	0.13
MC7	39.6	18.4	36.3	5.0	22.2	4.6	1.0	4.7	0.6	3.0	0.57	1.64	1.23	0.18
MC8	22.6	10.7	21.1	2.9	13.1	2.7	0.6	2.8	0.3	1.8	0.34	0.95	0.70	0.10
Floating iceberg
1	827	215	435	41	136	31	9.0	35	9.6	34	13	34	24	6.1
2	14.6	9.9	19.7	2.7	12.5	3.0	0.9	2.8	0.4	2.0	0.33	0.92	0.66	0.10
3	4.3	3.2	5.1	0.7	4.0	0.8	0.2	0.8	0.1	0.5	0.10	0.28	0.21	0.02
4	4.9	3.6	5.1	0.7	3.3	0.7	0.2	0.8	0.1	0.5	0.10	0.29	0.20	0.03
5	2.1	1.5	1.8	0.2	1.2	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.0	0.2	0.04	0.12	0.08	0.01
Snow melts
1	66	102	36	38	176	47	15	53	8.9	50	8.8	23	15	2.0
2	335	58	141	23	118	35	11	44	6.9	39	6.9	18	12	1.6
3	1090	187	482	76	382	114	36	139	23	130	23	59	41	5.1
4	21	4.1	9.1	1.5	8.1	2.3	0.7	3.0	0.4	2.6	0.5	1.2	0.8	0.1
5	719	128	313	50	254	74	23	93	15	84	15	39	27	3.4

Table 4 Dissolved Fe concentrations in glacier samples.

Region (sampling year)	Location	Sample type	Fe (nM)
Weddell Sea (2008–2009)^a	61–63°S, 48–52°W	Floating ice	3.8–28.8 (13±12)^b
Gerlache Strait (Apr 1989)^c	64.9°S, 63.1°W	Floating ice	25.9
Polar frontal region of Weddell Sea gyre (1992)^d	47°S to 59°S, 6°W	Floating ice	20.4
		Ice core	10.8–26.3 (19±11)
Seymour Island, Weddell Sea^e	64.3°S, 56.8°W	Floating Iceberg	0.2–0.7 (0.4±0.3)
Admiralty Strait off King George Island^e	62.2°S, 58.8°	Iceberg	0.2–2.2 (1.2±1.4)
Taylor Glacier and Canada Glacier^e	77.6–77.7°S, 162–163°E	Glacier	0.1–3.8 (1.5±1.8)
Southern branch of Antarctic circumpolar current region (1992)^f	52–58°S, 6°W	Floating ice	30
Law Dome, Wilkes Land (1983)^g	66.1°S, 110.8°E	Ice core (BHC1)	120
Law Dome, Wilkes Land (1988)^g	66.7°S, 113.2°E	Ice core (DE08)	0.5–7.9 (2.9±2.7)
Law Dome, Wilkes Land (1993)^g	66.7°S, 112.8°E	Ice core (DSS)	0.6–2.5 (1.2±0.7)
Marian Cove, King George Island, Barton Peninsula (2012)^h	62.2°S, 58.8°E	Floating ice	2.1–38.1 (14±14)

^aLin et al. (2011). ^bOne abnormally high value (Fe: 607 nM) is excluded when calculating average concentration. ^cMartin (1990). ^dLöscher et al. (1997). ^eRaiswell et al. (2008). ^fde Baar et al. (1995). ^gEdwards et al. (1998). ^hThis study.

Fig. 2  Plots of salinity versus dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), phosphorus (DIP) and silicate (DSi), and trace elements in Marian Cove surface water.

Fig. 3  Plots of salinity versus rare earth elements in Marian Cove surface water.

Fig. 4  Ratios of calculated average (Avg.) concentrations of trace elements, rare earth elements (REE), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), phosphorus (DIP), silicate (DSi) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Marian Cove surface water to those in background seawater, with no glacier melts (Bkg.). The value for REE is the average of all elements since they showed a similar trend.

Fig. 5  Upper continental crust (UCC)-normalized rare earth element patterns in ice, snow and seawater (beach seawater + bay water) samples from Marian Cove.

Lin H., Rauschenberg S., Hexel C.R., Shaw T.J., Twining B.S. Free-drifting icebergs as sources of iron to the Weddell Sea. Deep-Sea Research Part II. 2011; 58: 1392–1406.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Martin J.H. Glacial-interglacial CO2 change: the iron hypothesis. Paleoceanography. 1990; 5: 1–13.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Löscher B.M., de Baar H.J.W., de Jong J.T.M., Veth C., Dehairs F. The distribution of Fe in the Antarctic circumpolar current. Deep-Sea Research Part II. 1997; 44: 143–187.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Raiswell R., Benning L.G., Tranter M., Tulaczyk S. Bioavailable iron in the Southern Ocean: the significance of the iceberg conveyor belt. Geochemical Transactions. 2008; 9 7, doi: 10.1186/1467-4866-9-7.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

de Baar H.J.W., de Jong J.T.M., Bakker D.C.E., Löscher B.M., Veth C., Bathmann U., Smetacek V. Importance of iron for plankton blooms and carbon dioxide drawdown in the Southern Ocean. Nature. 1995; 373: 412–415.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Edwards R., Sedwick P.N., Morgan V., Boutron C.F., Hong S. Iron in ice cores from Law Dome, East Antarctica: implications for past deposition of aerosol iron. Annals of Glaciology. 1998; 27: 365–370.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar