Sustained year-round oceanographic measurements from Rothera Research Station, Antarctica, 1997-2017.

Oceanographic changes adjacent to Antarctica have global climatic and ecological impacts. However, this is the most challenging place in the world to obtain marine data due to its remoteness and inhospitable nature, especially in winter. Here, we present more than 2000 Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) profiles and associated water sample data collected with (almost uniquely) full year-round coverage from the British Antarctic Survey Rothera Research Station at the west Antarctic Peninsula. Sampling is conducted from a small boat or a sled, depending on the sea ice conditions. When conditions allow, sampling is twice weekly in summer and weekly in winter, with profiling to nominally 500 m and with discrete water samples taken at 15 m water depth. Daily observations are made of the sea ice conditions in the area. This paper presents the first 20 years of data collection, 1997-2017. This time series represents a unique and valuable resource for investigations of the high-latitude ocean's role in climate change, ocean/ice interactions, and marine biogeochemistry and carbon drawdown.

Sinking rates of microplastics and potential implications of their alteration by physical, biological, and chemical factors.

To follow the pathways of microplastics in aquatic environments, profound knowledge about the behaviour of microplastics is necessary. Therefore, sinking experiments were conducted with diverse polymer particles using fluids with different salinity. Particles ranged from 0.3 and 3.6mm with sinking rates between 6 and 91×10(-3)ms(-1). The sinking velocity was not solely related to particle density, size and fluid density but also to the particles shape leading to considerable deviation from calculated theoretical values. Thus, experimental studies are indispensable to get basic knowledge about the sinking behaviour and to gain representative datasets for model approaches estimating the distribution of microplastics in aquatic systems. The sinking behaviour may be altered considerably by weathering and biofouling demanding further studies with aged and fouled plastic particles. Furthermore, assumptions are made about the influence of sinking fouled microplastics on the marine carbon pump by transferring organic carbon to deeper water depths.