Carbon, pigment, and fluorescent data on (iron-enriched) natural plankton communities

The cruise covered an area that extended from the Polar Front in the north (ca. 49\260 S 20\260E) to the shelf ice in the south (ca 70\260S 6\260W). Phytoplankton abundance varied tenfold (0.04 - 0.4 mg chl.a L-1), with the higher biomass encountered at the Polar Front.

At different sites, natural plankton communities were sampled and incubated in 20-L polycarbonate vessels, with and without addition of 2 nM of Fe, in a 'clean' cool container at ambient temperatures. The algae were exposed to 90 mmol photons m-2 s-1 for at least 24 h, to allow iron-uptake. Subsamples were then transferred to 1-L polycarbonate bottles.