title: Temporal controls on silicic acid utilisation along the West Antarctic Peninsula.
abstract: The impact of climatic change along the Antarctica Peninsula has been widely debated in light of atmospheric/oceanic warming and increases in glacial melt over the past half century. Particular concern exists over the impact of these changes on marine ecosystems, not only on primary producers but also on higher trophic levels. Here we present a record detailing of the historical controls on the biogeochemical cycling of silicic acid [Si(OH)4] on the west Antarctica Peninsula margin, a region in which the modern phytoplankton environment is constrained by seasonal sea ice. We demonstrate that Si(OH)4cycling through the Holocene alternates between being primarily regulated by sea ice or glacial discharge from the surrounding grounded ice sheet. With further climate-driven change and melting forecast for the twenty-first century, our findings document the potential for biogeochemical cycling and multi-trophic interactions along the peninsula to be increasingly regulated by glacial discharge, altering food-web interactions.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.|Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK.
authors.forename: George E A
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Swann
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9415-6003
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pike
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.|Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK.|NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK.
authors.forename: Melanie J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK.|NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK.
authors.forename: Hilary J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Sloane
authors.affiliation: NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK.
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Snelling