and Indian Sectors of the Southern Ocean during
February
April of 2000 According to Satellite and Expeditionary Data
A. B. Demidov, V. I. Vedernikov†, and S. V. Sheberstov
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: demspa@rambler.ru
Received June 26, 2006; in final form, July 24, 2006
Abstract—In February and April 2000, in the Southern Ocean between Africa and Antarctica, the concentra-
tion of chlorophyll (Cchs) in the surface layer was not high (0.1–0.3 mg/m3). The zones of increased Cchs values
(0.6–2.0 and over 2.0 mg/m3) were located between the Southern Subtropical and Subantarctic fronts, near the
Polar front, and to the south of the Antarctic Divergence. From February to April, in the open areas of the South-
ern Ocean, a general Cchs decrease was observed. A similar trend was also noted in the near-shore seas of the
East Antarctic. At the shelf of the Sea of Cosmonauts, within the upper mixed layer, the content of chlorophyll
amounted to 0.34–0.37 mg/m3. In the area of the continental slope, we registered the formation of a subsurface
chlorophyll maximum (0.52–0.56 mg/m3) at a 20-m depth, which deepened to 70 m when passing to the deep-
water area. The positive correlation with a high coefficient (r = 0.939) between the field and satellite data (Cchs
and Csat, respectively) allows one to conclude about the applicability of the SeaWiFS algorithm for the estima-
tion of the chlorophyll content within the surface layer in the Antarctic areas studied. In the course of the ice
formation in Prydz Bay, during five days, the content of chlorophyll in different phases of the new ice increased
by a factor of 2.9, whereas the values of this parameter in the surrounding waters remained quite invariable.
The Csat values were 6.3 times as high as those obtained experimentally for the sludge ice. Because of the large
areas occupied by floating ice, the sole usage of satellite data may cause great errors in the productivity estima-
tion of the East Antarctic seas.
DOI: 10.1134/S000143700704008X
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