Increased fluxes of shelf-derived materials to the central Arctic Ocean

Authors

Lauren Kipp, Rowan UniversityFollow
Matthew A. Charette
Willard S. Moore
Paul B. Henderson
Ignatius G. Rigor

Document Type

Article

Version Deposited

Published Version

Publication Date

1-3-2018

Publication Title

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.aao1302

Abstract

Rising temperatures in the Arctic Ocean region are responsible for changes such as reduced ice cover, permafrost thawing, and increased river discharge, which, together, alter nutrient and carbon cycles over the vast Arctic continental shelf. We show that the concentration of radium-228, sourced to seawater through sediment-water exchange processes, has increased substantially in surface waters of the central Arctic Ocean over the past decade. A mass balance model for 228Ra suggests that this increase is due to an intensification of shelf-derived material inputs to the central basin, a source that would also carry elevated concentrations of dissolved organic carbon and nutrients. Therefore, we suggest that significant changes in the nutrient, carbon, and trace metal balances of the Arctic Ocean are underway, with the potential to affect biological productivity and species assemblages in Arctic surface waters.

Comments

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0

Recommended Citation

Kipp, L.E., Charette, M.A., Moore, W.S., Henderson, P.B., Rigor, I.G. (2018) Increased fluxes of shelf-derived materials to the central Arctic Ocean. Science Advances, aao1302.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License