Cryptophytes: An emerging algal group in the rapidly changing Antarctic Peninsula marine environments.

The western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a climatically sensitive region where foundational changes at the basis of the food web have been recorded; cryptophytes are gradually outgrowing diatoms together with a decreased size spectrum of the phytoplankton community. Based on a 11-year (2008-2018) in-situ dataset, we demonstrate a strong coupling between biomass accumulation of cryptophytes, summer upper ocean stability, and the mixed layer depth. Our results shed light on the environmental conditions favoring the cryptophyte success in coastal regions of the WAP, especially during situations of shallower mixed layers associated with lower diatom biomass, which evidences a clear competition or niche segregation between diatoms and cryptophytes.

Iceberg drift and melting rates in the northwestern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: Novel automated regional estimates through machine learning.

Global warming and its consequences on polar regions have been thoroughly discussed in recent times. One of those consequences is the freshwater flux and the associated cooling and freshening that result from iceberg melting. Despite the potential impact, large uncertainties exist resulting mostly from the complexity to follow icebergs from space, which make the few existing estimates essentially model-based.

Glacial meltwater input to the ocean around the Antarctic Peninsula: forcings and consequences.

The Antarctic region has experienced recent climate and environmental variations due to climate change, such as ice sheets and ice shelves loss, and changes in the production, extension, and thickness of sea-ice. These processes mainly affect the freshwater supply to the Southern Ocean and its water masses formation and export, being crucial to changes in the global climate. Here, we review the influence of the glacial freshwater input on the Antarctic Peninsula adjacent ocean.

Magnitude of the 8.2 ka event freshwater forcing based on stable isotope modelling and comparison to future Greenland melting.

The northern hemisphere experienced an abrupt cold event ~ 8200 years ago (the 8.2 ka event) that was triggered by the release of meltwater into the Labrador Sea, and resulting in a weakening of the poleward oceanic heat transport. Although this event has been considered a possible analogue for future ocean circulation changes due to the projected Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) melting, large uncertainties in the amount and rate of freshwater released during the 8.