GEOCHEMISTRY IN AN AREA RECENTLY UNCOVERED FROM THE FILCHNER ICE SHELF

Sediments were studied in the southern Weddell Sea (Antarctica)that ha d been both covered by the ice shelf prior to 1986 (ICS) and outside t he ice shelf (IFS). The composition of particulate matter in these sed iments shows that the sedimentation under the ice shelf is quantitativ ely similar to that outside the ice shelf, except that the former has a negligible content of easily degradable organic matter, indicating a very low biochemical activity. The (210)pb profile, from the ICS stat ion, gave a sedimentation rate of 0.02 cm y(-1). This accumulation rat e, combined with a particulate carbon content of approximately 1%, yie lds an annual net accumulation of 1.7 g C m(-2). The profiles of nutri ents in the interstitial water (under the ice shelf) indicate a very s mall flux to the overlaying water. Outside the ice shelf the flux is s ignificantly higher, though still small. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier S cience Ltd.