Analysis of Physical and Biogeochemical Control Mechanisms on Summertime Surface Carbonate System Variability in the Western Ross Sea (Antarctica) Using In Situ and Satellite Data

In this study, carbonate system properties were measured in the western Ross Sea (Antarctica) over the 2005–2006 and 2011–2012 austral summers with the aim of analysing their sensitivity to physical and biogeochemical drivers. Daily Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) sea ice concentration maps, obtained prior to and during the samplings, were used to analyse the sea ice evolution throughout the experiment periods. Monthly means and 8-day composite chlorophyll concentration maps from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua satellite at 4-km resolution were used to investigate inter-annual and basin scale biological variability. Chlorophyll-a concentrations in surface waters estimated by MODIS satellite data contribute to descriptions of the variability of carbonate system properties in surface waters. Mean values of carbonate system properties were comparable across both investigated years; however, the 2012 data displayed larger variability. Sea ice melting also had a pivotal role in controlling the carbonate system chemistry of the mixed layer both directly through dilution processes and indirectly by favouring the development of phytoplankton blooms. This resulted in high pH and WAr, and in low CT, particularly in those areas where high chlorophyll concentration was shown by satellite maps.