New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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VARIATION IN ZOOPLANKTON BIOMASS WITH HYDROLOGICAL REGIME BENEATH THE SEASONAL ICE, McMURDO SOUND, ANTARCTICA

G. R. F. Hicks*

New Zealand Oceanographic Institute, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Wellington

Abstract Variations in zooplankton biomass are correlated with major hydrological features of south-eastern McMurdo Sound (77"50'S, 166° 30' E). Biomass values fluctuate proportionally with tidal height and tide-influenced current speed. There is a reversal in vertical distribution of zooplankton from open to sub-ice waters: zooplankton is most abundant near the surface in open water areas, but in sub-ice areas the greatest abundance is in the deepest water. A sub-ice area of high zooplankton content is explained in terms of zooplankton productivity. High biomass associated with high tide in the south-western part of the area studied is presumed to be due to the transport of enriched open-sea water under the ice. There is marked depletion of the sub-ice fauna in all water layers close to Ross Island, which is apparently correlated with the presence in this area of a warmer surface current. The deeper water layers are the emergent stream of a sub-ice circulatory current.

N.Z. Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 8 (1): 67-77
(Received for publication 3 January .1973)

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (650K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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