Articles | Volume 19, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2247-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-2247-2025
Research article
 | 
26 Jun 2025
Research article |  | 26 Jun 2025

Antarctic subglacial trace metal mobility linked to climate change across termination III

Gavin Piccione, Terrence Blackburn, Paul Northrup, Slawek Tulaczyk, and Troy Rasbury

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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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Cited articles

Alderkamp, A. C., Mills, M. M., van Dijken, G. L., Laan, P., Thuróczy, C. E., Gerringa, L. J. A., de Baar, H. J. W., Payne, C. D., Visser, R. J. W., Buma, A. G. J., and Arrigo, K. R.: Iron from melting glaciers fuels phytoplankton blooms in the Amundsen Sea (Southern Ocean): Phytoplankton characteristics and productivity, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. II, 71–76, 32–48, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.03.005, 2012. 
Annett, A. L., Skiba, M., Henley, S. F., Venables, H. J., Meredith, M. P., Statham, P. J., and Ganeshram, R. S.: Comparative roles of upwelling and glacial iron sources in Ryder Bay, coastal western Antarctic Peninsula, Mar. Chem., 176, 21–33, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2015.06.017, 2015. 
Balaguer, J., Koch, F., Hassler, C., and Trimborn, S.: Iron and manganese co-limit the growth of two phytoplankton groups dominant at two locations of the Drake Passage, Commun. Biol., 5, 207, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03148-8, 2022. 
Blackburn, T., Edwards, G. H., Tulaczyk, S., Scudder, M., Piccione, G., Hallet, B., McLean, N., Zachos, J. C., Cheney, B., and Babbe, J. T.: Ice retreat in Wilkes Basin of East Antarctica during a warm interglacial, Nature, 583, 554–559, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2484-5, 2020. 
Boothman, W. S., Coiro, L., and Moran, S. B.: Molybdenum accumulation in sediments: A quantitative indicator of hypoxic water conditions in Narragansett Bay, RI, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 267, 107778, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107778, 2022. 
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Growth of microorganisms in the Southern Ocean is limited by low iron levels. Iron delivered from beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet is one agent that fertilizes these ecosystems, but it is unclear how this nutrient source changes through time. Here, we measured the age and chemistry of a rock that records the iron concentration of Antarctic basal water. We show that increased dissolution of iron from rocks below the ice sheet can substantially enhance iron discharge during cold climate periods.
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