Organic carbon oxidation and iron remobilization by West Antarctic shelf sediments

This project investigated the distribution of dissolved and solid phase iron in sediments along the western edge of the Antarctic Peninsula (i.e., the West Antarctic Shelf), as well as the biogeochemical processes occurring in these sediments that exert a major control on sediment iron distributions. In many coastal and continental margin regions, including those along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, sediments appear to represent a potentially important, but poorly quantified, source of iron to the overlying water column to support primary productivity. Sediment concentrations of iron are high (relative to those in seawater), and a number of different processes in the sediments may allow iron to “leak” from the sediments to the overlying waters, which could then support productivity driven by this “recycled” iron.