A biogeochemical study in the Bellingshausen Sea: Overview of the STERNA 1992 expedition

A general overview and background of a two-ship study to examine biogeochemical fluxes in the marginal ice-zone of the Bellingshausen Sea (65-70°S; 80-87°W), SE Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean is presented. The major feature studied was an intense band of chlorophyll that was found geographically close to a receding ice-edge. However, the bloom appeared not to be a result of a shallow mixed layer caused by ice-melt stabilisation, but rather associated with an oceanic front that coincided with the ice-edge. Details of the hydrographic conditions existing along the 85°W meridian from the ice-edge to open water to the north, and detailed surveys of surface hydrographic conditions are presented.