1. Changes in Circulation and Particle Scavenging in the Amerasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean over the Last Three Decades Inferred from the Water Column Distribution of Geochemical Tracers
- Author
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Xiaoxin Yu, Michiel M Rutgers van der Loeff, Mélanie Grenier, Ole Valk, Susan E. Allen, R. Lawrence Edwards, Maureen Soon, K. H. Lepore, S. Bradley Moran, Yanbin Lu, Christelle Not, Roger Francois, Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales (LEGOS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of British Columbia (UBC), Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), University of Minnesota [Twin Cities] (UMN), and University of Minnesota System
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Marine Inorganic Chemistry ,temporal evolution ,particle flux ,Structural basin ,Marine Geochemistry ,Oceanography ,01 natural sciences ,Oceanography: Biological and Chemical ,Water column ,Geochemistry and Petrology ,[SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry ,Arctic Ocean ,Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Amerasian Basin ,The Arctic: An AGU Joint Special Collection ,14. Life underwater ,Scavenging ,Arctic Region ,Research Articles ,[SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,radioisotopes ,Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry ,Ocean current ,Arctic and Antarctic oceanography ,Sediment ,Physical and Chemical Properties of Seawater ,lateral exchanges ,Nutrients and Nutrient Cycling ,Radioactivity and Radioisotopes ,Oceanography: General ,Geophysics ,Circulation (fluid dynamics) ,Geochemistry ,Productivity (ecology) ,13. Climate action ,Space and Planetary Science ,Environmental science ,Antarctica ,Seawater ,Marine Organic Chemistry ,Geographic Location ,Research Article - Abstract
Since the 1980–1990s, international research efforts have augmented our knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of the Arctic Ocean water masses, and recent studies have documented changes. Understanding the processes responsible for these changes is necessary to be able to forecast the local and global consequences of these property evolutions on climate. The present work investigates the distributions of geochemical tracers of particle fluxes and circulation in the Amerasian Basin and their temporal evolution over the last three decades (from stations visited between 1983 and 2015). Profiles of 230‐thorium (230Th) and 231‐protactinium (231Pa) concentrations and neodymium isotopes (expressed as εNd) measured in the Amerasian Basin prior to 2000 are compared to a new, post‐2000s data set. The comparison shows a large scale decrease in dissolved 230Th and 231Pa concentrations, suggesting intensification of scavenging by particle flux, especially in coastal areas. Higher productivity and sediment resuspension from the shelves appear responsible for the concentration decrease along the margins. In the basin interior, increased lateral exchanges with the boundary circulation also contribute to the decrease in concentration. This study illustrates how dissolved 230Th and 231Pa, with εNd support, can provide unique insights not only into changes in particle flux but also into the evolution of ocean circulation and mixing., Key Points Concentration decreases of 230Thd and 231Pad suggest an enhancement of particulate scavenging since the 2000s in the Amerasian BasinParticulate scavenging results from higher productivity and sediment resuspension from the shelvesPost‐2000s changes in intermediate and deep layers suggest enhanced lateral mixing between the margins and central areas of the basins
- Published
- 2022
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