Spatial patterns in phytoplankton community composition and their relationship to carbon export on the northwest Weddell Sea continental shelf

Meyer, Meredith G.; Brewin, Robert J. W.; Sun, Xuerong; Manno, Clara; Atherden, Florence; Kramer, Sasha J.; Dall'Olmo, Giorgio; Heywood, Karen J.

doi:10.5194/os-22-3521-2026

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3521-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Processes influencing carbon cycling on the Antarctic continental...

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3521-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

Research article

|

02 Nov 2026

Research article |

| 02 Nov 2026

Spatial patterns in phytoplankton community composition and their relationship to carbon export on the northwest Weddell Sea continental shelf

Meredith G. Meyer, Robert J. W. Brewin, Xuerong Sun, Clara Manno, Florence Atherden, Sasha J. Kramer, Giorgio Dall'Olmo, and Karen J. Heywood

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3521-2026-supplement

Data sets

High performance liquid chromatography samples from water, ice and interfacial samples collected during RRS Sir David Attenborough cruise SD035 in the Southern Ocean in February 2024 as part of the PICCOLO project Meredith G. Meyer et al. https://doi.org/10.5285/4d5d158b-3cf9-ad21-e063-7086abc01540

POC and PON stock data from Weddell Sea Ice floes collected in February 2024 during PICCOLO research cruise SD035 Florence Atherden et al. https://doi.org/10.5285/47f15a7a-de57-dc68-e063-7086abc0ccb7

Short summary

Antarctica is a key region for carbon cycling and export. The efficiency of carbon export has been linked to the type of phytoplankton dominating the system. Our results suggest diatoms, haptophytes, and cryptophytes are present in all water column samples despite substantial physical differences between sampling locations. Our data shows a strong relationship between the proportion of diatoms, haptophytes, and cryptophytes relative to all other phytoplankton and the magnitude of carbon flux.