Impact of the B-15 iceberg "stranding event" on the physical and biological properties of sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica.

Ice cores were sampled at four stations in McMurdo Sound (Ross Sea) between 1999 and 2003. At the beginning of year 2000, a very large iceberg (B-15) detached itself from the Ross Ice Shelf and stranded at the entrance of the Sound, preventing the usual oceanic circulation purging of the annual sea ice cover from this area. Ice textural studies showed that a second year sea ice cover was built-up at three out of the four stations: ice thickness increased to about 3 m. Repeated alternation of columnar and platelet ice appeared, and bulk salinity showed a strong decrease, principally in the upper part of the ice sheet, with associated brine volume decrease. Physical modification influenced the biology as well. By decreasing the light and space available for organisms in the sea ice cover, the stranding of B-15 has i) hampered autotrophic productivity, with chlorophyll a concentration and algae biomass significantly lower for second year ice stations, and ii) affected trophic relationships such as the bacterial biomass/chl a concentration correlation, or the autotrophic to heterotrophic ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]