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The Geochemical Response of Sedimentary Archives to Rapid Recent Glacier Retreat at the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP): from Source to Sink

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The Geochemical Response of Sedimentary Archives to Rapid Recent Glacier Retreat at the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP): from Source to Sink The geochemical response of sedimentary archives to rapid recent glacier retreat at the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP): from source to sink Geochemische Reaktion von Sedimentarchiven auf den schnellen rezenten Gletscherrückzug auf der Westantarktischen Halbinsel: von der Quelle zur Senke Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften – Dr. rer. nat. – angenommen bei der Fakultät für Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg von Patrick Monien geboren am 15.02.1977 in Oldenburg Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Brumsack Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rullkötter Eingereicht am: 02. Oktober 2013 Disputation am: 11. Februar 2014 Abstract Abstract Since the middle of the 20th century the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) belongs to the regions with the most rapid warming on Earth and is therefore considered to be one of the hotspots of climate change. During the last six decades an increase in mean annual air temperatures of more than 3°C is observed along the WAP causing severe changes in local cryospheric and ecosystems. The overarching aim of this thesis is to assess, whether the documented temperature increase and associated glacier retreat at WAP is reflected in the geochemistry of sedimentary records and if such episodes did occur during other periods within the Holocene. Moreover, this work focusses on biogeochemical processes in maritime Antarctic sediments and their implications for local benthic and pelagic communities. The rapid recent warming in the WAP region has already been related to significant changes in the distribution of one of the regions’ upper-trophic level predators, such as the Chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) Adélie (P. adéliae) and Gentoo (P. papua) penguins. In order to investigate the influence of past climate change on the distribution and occurrence of local penguin colonies lake sediments from Ardley Island and Fildes Peninsula, King George Island (KGI), were analysed for geochemical bioelements (As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cu, Hg, P, TS, Se, Sr, and Zn) that are known to be characteristic for penguin guano. These element concentrations were used to reconstruct a high-resolution history of local penguin populations during the last 9,000 years. The results of this study let assume that Gentoo penguin colonies generally expanded to occupy more inland areas of Ardley Island during ‘warmer’ periods, particularly during the Mid-Holocene Hypsithermal when relative sea levels were c. 8-12 m higher. In addition to rapid and catastrophic crashes as a result of volcanic eruptions, low population episodes appear to have coincided with colder i Abstract phases with the expansion of land and sea-ice creating unfavourable breeding conditions for this species. The assumption that this region has experienced short-term alternations in regional climate was supported by high-resolution investigation of marine sediments from Maxwell Bay, KGI. Palaeoclimatic interpretation of major and trace element distribution patterns and granulometric data allowed the identification of two main climatic events during the Late Holocene, synchronous in timing to the Little Ice Age (c. 550–50 cal yr BP) and the Medieval Warm Period (c. 1400–550 cal yr BP) of the Northern Hemisphere. Concurrent with the gradual glacier retreat and an enhanced input of eroded particulate material into coastal areas 210Pb data moreover showed that sediment mass accumulation rates have almost tripled since the end of the 1930s. In order to get insights into biogeochemical processes in coastal Antarctic sediments and to test whether they are influenced by the observed changes of the sedimentary environment, redox-sensitive trace metals, nutrients and terminal metabolic products were investigated in pore waters of surface sediments from Potter Cove, KGI. Their distribution revealed a high spatial variability in redox conditions at the study site. Particularly in the shallower areas of the bay significant correlation between sulphate depletion and total alkalinity indicates sulphate reduction to be the major pathway of organic matter mineralisation. In contrast, dissimilatory metal oxide reduction seems to be prevailing in the newly ice-free areas and the deeper troughs. Here dissolved iron concentrations of up to 700 µM were present, which are presumably responsible for high metal assimilation in benthic deposit feeders, like Laternula elliptica. It is suggested that the increased accumulation of fine-grained material with high amounts of reducible metal oxides in combination with a reduced availability of metabolisable organic matter and enhanced physical and biological disturbance by bottom water currents, ice scouring and burrowing organisms favours metal oxide reduction over sulphate reduction in these respective areas. ii Abstract Based on modelled iron reduction rates an Antarctic shelf-derived input of potentially bioavailable iron to the Southern Ocean was calculated, which is in the same order of magnitude as the flux provided by icebergs and significantly higher than the input by aeolian dust. This makes suboxic shelf sediments a key source of iron for the high nutrient-low chlorophyll areas of the Southern Ocean. iii Kurzfassung Kurzfassung Seit Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts gehört die Westantarktische Halbinsel (WAH) zu den sich am stärksten erwärmenden Regionen der Erde, womit sie zu einer der Schlüsselregionen des Klimawandels zählt. In den vergangenen sechzig Jahren wurde im Bereich der WAH ein Anstieg der mittleren Jahrestemperatur von mehr als 3°C beobachtet, der zu weitreichenden Veränderungen lokaler Kryo- und Ökosysteme geführt hat. Das Hauptziel dieser Dissertation ist zu ermitteln, ob sich der dokumentierte Temperaturanstieg und der damit verbundene Gletscherrückzug in der Geochemie sedimentärer Archive widerspiegelt und ob solche Klimaepisoden bereits zu anderen Zeiten im Holozän aufgetreten sind. Zudem bildet die Untersuchung biogeochemischer Prozesse in Sedimenten der maritimen Antarktis und deren Einflüsse auf lokale, benthische und pelagische Lebensgemeinschaften einen Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit. Die schnelle rezente Erwärmung in der Region der WAH wurde bereits mit signifikanten Veränderungen in der Häufigkeit und Verteilung von Predatoren, wie Zügel- (Pygoscelis antarctica), Adélie- (P. adéliae) und Eselspinguinen (P. papua) in Verbindung gebracht. Um den Einfluss vergangener Klimawandel auf die Verteilung und das Auftreten von lokalen Pinguinkolonien zu untersuchen, wurden Seesedimente von Ardley Island und der Fildes Halbinsel, King George Island (KGI) auf geochemische Bioelemente (As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cu, Hg, P, TS, Se, Sr und Zn) hin untersucht, die bekanntermaßen charakteristisch für Pinguinguano sind. Diese Elementkonzentrationen wurden für eine hochauflösende Rekonstruktion der lokalen Pinguinpopulation in den vergangenen 9000 Jahren verwendet. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie lassen vermuten, dass die Eselspinguinkolonien in Warmphasen im Allgemeinen expandiert sind und Gebiete weiter im Inneren der Insel besiedelt haben. iv Kurzfassung Dies gilt insbesondere für die Mittlere Wärmezeit, in der der relative Meeresspiegel etwa 8-12 m höher gewesen ist. Neben schnellen und katastrophenartigen Populationseinbrüchen, die auf vulkanische Eruptionen zurückzuführen sind, scheinen Zeitabschnitte mit niedrigeren Populationszahlen mit kälteren Phasen, der Ausweitung von Land- und Meereis und den damit verbundenen ungünstigeren Brutbedingungen für diese Spezies verbunden zu sein. Die Vermutung, dass diese Region kurzfristige Änderungen in Bezug auf das regionale Klima erfahren hat, wurde durch hochauflösende Untersuchungen an marinen Sedimenten von der Maxwell Bay (KGI) bestätigt. Die paläoklimatische Interpretation von Haupt- und Spurenelementverteilungsmustern und granulometrischen Daten ermöglichten die Identifizierung von zwei Hauptklimaphasen während des späten Holozäns, die zeitgleich mit der “Kleinen Eiszeit” und der “Mittelalterlichen Warmzeit” der Nordhemisphäre auftraten. Einhergehend mit dem schrittweisen Gletscherrückzug und dem vermehrten Eintrag von erodiertem partikulärem Material in Küstengebiete zeigten 210Pb Daten zudem, dass sich die Sedimentakkumulationsraten in diesem Gebiet seit dem Ende der 1930er Jahren fast verdreifacht hat. Um Einblicke in biogeochemische Prozesse in antarktischen Küstensedimenten zu erhalten und um herauszufinden, ob diese durch die beobachteten Veränderungen der sedimentären Umwelt beeinflusst werden, wurden redox- sensitive Spurenmetalle, Nähstoffe und metabolische Endprodukte in Porenwässern von Oberflächensedimenten der Potter Cove (KGI) untersucht. Deren Verteilungen lassen eine hohe räumliche Variabilität der vorherrschenden Redoxbedingungen im Untersuchungsgebiet erkennen. Besonders in den flacheren Gebieten der Bucht zeigt die signifikante Korrelation zwischen Sulfatabnahme und Alkalinität, dass Sulfatreduktion den Hauptprozess der Mineralisierung von organischem Material darstellt. Demgegenüber scheint die dissimilatorische Reduktion von Metalloxiden in den neuen eisfreien Gebieten und den tieferen Senken der Bucht zu dominieren. Hier wurden Konzentrationen von gelöstem Fe von bis zu 700 µM gefunden, v Kurzfassung die höchstwahrscheinlich auch für die erhöhte Metallaufnahme in benthischen Filtrierern wie Laternula elliptica verantwortlich sind. Es ist anzunehmen, dass die erhöhte Akkumulation von feinkörnigem Material mit hohem Anteil an reduzierbaren Metalloxiden in Kombination mit der verminderten Verfügbarkeit von metabolisierbarem
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