Multi‐Elemental Tracers in the Amerasian Basin Reveal Interlinked Biogeochemical and Physical Processes in the Arctic Ocean Upper Halocline

Abstract The physical and biogeochemical properties of the western Arctic Ocean are rapidly changing, resulting in cascading shifts to the local ecosystems. The nutrient‐rich Pacific water inflow to the Arctic through the Bering Strait is modified on the Chukchi and East Siberian shelves by brine rejection during sea ice formation, resulting in a strong halocline (called the Upper Halocline Layer (UHL)) that separates the cold and relatively fresh surface layer from the warmer and more saline (and nutrient‐poor) Atlantic‐derived water below. Biogeochemical signals entrained into the UHL result from Pacific Waters modified by sediment and river influence on the shelf. In this synthesis, we bring together data from the 2015 Arctic U.S. GEOTRACES program to implement a multi‐tracer (dissolved and particulate trace elements, radioactive and stable isotopes, macronutrients, and dissolved gas/atmospheric tracers) approach to assess the relative influence of shelf sediments, rivers, and Pacific seawater contribution to the Amerasian Arctic halocline. For each element, we characterized their behavior as mixing dominated (e.g., dCu, dGa), shelf‐influenced (e.g., dFe, dZn), or a combination of both (e.g., dBa, dNi). Leveraging this framework, we assessed sources and sinks contributing to elemental distributions: shelf sediments (e.g., dFe, dZn, dCd, dHg), riverine sources, (e.g., dCu, dBa, dissolved organic carbon), and scavenging by particles originating on the shelf (e.g., dFe, dMn, dV, etc.). Additionally, synthesized results from isotopic and atmospheric tracers yielded tracer age estimates for the Upper Halocline ranging between 1 and 2 decades on a spatial gradient consistent with cyclonic circulation.

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Publication Details

Journal
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Published
2025-04-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gb008342
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Geological Studies and Exploration
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.69

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article

Multi‐Elemental Tracers in the Amerasian Basin Reveal Interlinked Biogeochemical and Physical Processes in the Arctic Ocean Upper Halocline

Katlin L. Bowman, Robert F. Anderson, R. Lawrence Edwards, Laramie T. Jensen et al.
2 citations
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Geological Studies and Exploration
4.69
article

Multi‐Elemental Tracers in the Amerasian Basin Reveal Interlinked Biogeochemical and Physical Processes in the Arctic Ocean Upper Halocline

Katlin L. Bowman, Robert F. Anderson, R. Lawrence Edwards, Laramie T. Jensen, Ryan J. Woosley, Laura M. Whitmore, Yang Xiang, Alan M. Shiller, Julie Granger, Jessica N. Fitzsimmons, Matthew A. Charette, Mak A. Saito, Peter Schlösser, Alison M. Agather, Erin Black, William M. Smethie, Lauren Kipp, Randelle M. Bundy, Mark A. Brzezinski, Angelica Pasqualini, Dennis A. Hansell, R. Newton, Peter Lynn Morton, Phoebe J. Lam, Annie Bourbonnais, Benjamin S. Twining, Ruifeng Zhang
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract The physical and biogeochemical properties of the western Arctic Ocean are rapidly changing, resulting in cascading shifts to the local ecosystems. The nutrient‐rich Pacific water inflow to the Arctic through the Bering Strait is modified on the Chukchi and East Siberian shelves by brine rejection during sea ice formation, resulting in a strong halocline (called the Upper Halocline Layer (UHL)) that separates the cold and relatively fresh surface layer from the warmer and more saline (and nutrient‐poor) Atlantic‐derived water below. Biogeochemical signals entrained into the UHL result from Pacific Waters modified by sediment and river influence on the shelf. In this synthesis, we bring together data from the 2015 Arctic U.S. GEOTRACES program to implement a multi‐tracer (dissolved and particulate trace elements, radioactive and stable isotopes, macronutrients, and dissolved gas/atmospheric tracers) approach to assess the relative influence of shelf sediments, rivers, and Pacific seawater contribution to the Amerasian Arctic halocline. For each element, we characterized their behavior as mixing dominated (e.g., dCu, dGa), shelf‐influenced (e.g., dFe, dZn), or a combination of both (e.g., dBa, dNi). Leveraging this framework, we assessed sources and sinks contributing to elemental distributions: shelf sediments (e.g., dFe, dZn, dCd, dHg), riverine sources, (e.g., dCu, dBa, dissolved organic carbon), and scavenging by particles originating on the shelf (e.g., dFe, dMn, dV, etc.). Additionally, synthesized results from isotopic and atmospheric tracers yielded tracer age estimates for the Upper Halocline ranging between 1 and 2 decades on a spatial gradient consistent with cyclonic circulation.

Global Biogeochemical CyclesVol. 39(4)
Louisiana State University (US), University of Minnesota (US), University of Connecticut (US), University of Alaska Fairbanks (US), University of Miami (US), Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (US), University of California, Santa Barbara (US), University of South Carolina (US), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (US), University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory (US), Science and Technology Corporation (United States) (US), Rowan University (US), University of Rochester (US), Arizona State University (US), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US), Columbia University (US), Texas A&M University (US)
National Science Foundation, Division of Ocean Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Geological Studies and Exploration
4.69
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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