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Paleogeographic maps represent the ultimate synthesis of complex and extensive geologic data and express pictorially the hypothetical landscape of some region during a given time-slice of deep geologic time. Such maps, presented as paired paleogeographic and paleotectonic reconstructions, have been developed to portray the geologic history of the greater Arctic region over the past 400 million years. Collectively they depict four major episodes in the development of the Arctic region. The first episode witnessed early and middle Paleozoic terrane assembly and accretion during the Caledonian and Ellesmerian orogenies, which brought together many pieces of the Arctic collage along the northern margin of Laurussia. During the second phase, the assembly of Pangea in the late Paleozoic joined Siberia to Laurussia, an entity that became Laurasia during the subsequent break-up of Pangea. Then, Mesozoic subduction and terrane accretion constructed the Cordilleran margin and opened the Canada Basin. Finally, Cenozoic North Atlantic sea-floor spreading fully opened the Arctic Ocean., Les cartes paléogéographiques représentent la synthèse ultime de données géologiques complexes et variées; elles dépeignent en images le paysage hypothétique d’une certaine région durant un créneau temporel donné d’un temps géologique profond. Les cartes en question, présentées sous forme de reconstructions paléogéographiques et paléotectoniques jumelées, ont été créées pour représenter le passé géologique de la grande région de l’Arctique au cours des 400 derniers millions d’années. Elles illustrent collectivement quatre épisodes marquants du développement de la région de l’Arctique. Le premier épisode a été témoin de l’assemblage et de l’accrétion du terrane du Paléozoïque précoce et moyen durant les orogenèses calédonienne et ellesmérienne, qui ont réuni de nombreux éléments de la mosaïque de l’Arctique le long de la marge septentrionale de l’Euramérique. Durant la seconde phase, l’assemblage de la Pangée a réuni vers la fin du Paléozoïque la Sibérie à l’Euramérique, une entité qui devint la Laurasie au cours du démembrement subséquent de la Pangée. La subduction et l’accrétion du terrane au cours du Mésozoïque a ensuite créé la marge de la Cordillère et a ouvert le bassin Canada. L’expansion océanique de l’Atlantique Nord du Cénozoïque a finalement complètement ouvert l’océan Arctique.

In 2020, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) celebrates 90 years of research, education, and exploration of the World Ocean. Since inception this has included Arctic studies. In fact, WHOI’s first technical report is on the oceanographic data obtained during the submarine “Nautilus” polar expedition in 1931. In 1951 and 1952, WHOI scientists supervised the collection of hydrographic data during the U.S. Navy SkiJump I & II expeditions utilizing ski-equipped aircraft landings in the Beaufort Sea, and inferred the Beaufort Gyre circulation cell and existence of a mid-Arctic ridge. Later classified studies, particularly concerning under-ice acoustics, were conducted by WHOI personnel from Navy and Air Force ice camps. With the advent of simple satellite communications and positioning, WHOI oceanographers began to deploy buoys on sea ice to obtain surface atmosphere, ice, and upper ocean time series data in the central Arctic beginning in 1987. Observations from these first systems were limited technologically to discrete depths and constrained by power considerations, satellite throughput, as well as high costs. As technologies improved, WHOI developed the drifting Ice-Tethered Profiler (ITP) to obtain vertically continuous upper ocean data several times per day in the ice-covered basins and telemeter the data back in near real time to the lab. Since the 1980s, WHOI scientists have also been involved in geological, biological, ecological and geochemical studies of Arctic waters, typically from expeditions utilizing icebreaking vessels, or air supported drifting platforms. Since the 2000s, WHOI has maintained oceanographic moorings on the Beaufort Shelf and in the deep Canada Basin, the latter an element of the Beaufort Gyre Observing System (BGOS). BGOS maintains oceanographic moorings via icebreaker, and conducts annual hydrographic and geochemical surveys each summer to document the Beaufort Gyre freshwater reservoir that has changed significantly since earlier investigations from the 1950s–1980s. With the experience and results demonstrated over the past decades for furthering Arctic research, WHOI scientists are well positioned to continue to explore and study the polar oceans in the decades ahead

Biogeochemical cycles in the Arctic Ocean are sensitive to the transport of materials from continental shelves into central basins by sea ice. However, it is difficult to assess the net effect of t...

The Western Arctic Ocean is a host to major ocean circulation systems, many of which generate eddies that can transport water masses and corresponding tracers over long distances from their formation sites. However, comprehensive observations of critical eddy characteristics are currently not available and are limited to spatially and temporally sparse in situ observations. Here we use high‐resolution spaceborne synthetic aperture radar measurements to detect eddies from their surface imprints in ice‐free sea surface roughness, and in sea ice patterns throughout marginal ice zones. We provide the first estimate of eddy characteristics extending over the seasonally ice‐free and marginal ice zone regions of the Western Arctic Ocean, including their locations, diameters, and monthly distribution. Using available synthetic aperture radar data, we identified over 4,000 open ocean eddies, as well as over 3,500 eddies in marginal ice zones from June to October in 2007, 2011, and 2016. Eddies range in size between 0.5 and 100 km and are frequently found over the shelf and near continental slopes but also present in the deep Canada Basin and over the Chukchi Plateau. We find that cyclonic eddies are twice more frequent compared to anticyclonic eddies at the surface, distinct from the dominating anticyclonic eddies observed at depth by in situ moorings and ice‐tethered profilers. Our study supports the notion that eddies are ubiquitous in the Western Arctic Ocean even in the presence of sea ice and emphasizes the need for improved ocean observations and modeling at eddy scales.

New U–Pb SIMS zircon datings from granitoid plutons and dikes of Western Chukotka together with earlier obtained data confirm that postcollisional granitoid magmatism and dike intrusion occurred in Aptian–Albian (117–105 m.y.) and fix change of tectonic regime from collision to extension in tectonic evolution of Chukotka Mesozoides. These events may be related to continuing expansion of Amerasian basin since Jurassic and forma- tion in Aptian—Albian time of both oceanic Makarov, Podvodnikov basins and Anakhurgen, Nutesyn and Kameshkov basins in continental framework of Eastern Arctic. Synchronism of tectonic events of extension and spreading in the Canada Basin and collisional events, deformations and reorganization of structural style and sedimentary environment in the South-Anyui suture is noted. This may be regarded as confirmation of rotation hypothesis of Amerasian Basin formation.

In recent years, there has been a significant sea ice retreat in the Pacific sector of the Arctic. One possible cause is the increase in ocean heat flux amplified by the ice-albedo feedback. This p...

This article presents the study of a passive acoustic dataset recorded on the Chukchi Shelf from October 2016 to July 2017 during the Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment (CANAPE). The study focuses on the low-frequency (250–350 Hz) ambient noise (after individual transient signals are removed) and its environmental drivers. A specificity of the experimental area is the Beaufort Duct, a persistent warm layer intrusion of variable extent created by climate change, which favors long-range acoustic propagation. The Chukchi Shelf ambient noise shows traditional polar features: it is quieter and wind force influence is reduced when the sea is ice-covered. However, the study reveals two other striking features. First, if the experimental area is covered with ice, the ambient noise drops by up to 10 dB/Hz when the Beaufort Duct disappears. Further, a large part of the noise variability is driven by distant cryogenic events, hundreds of kilometers away from the acoustic receivers. This was quantified using correlations between the CANAPE acoustic data and distant ice-drift magnitude data (National Snow and Ice Data Center).

A seismic stratigraphic framework and basin fill geohistory for Arctic Ocean basins is presented based on data collected by several Russian Government organized expeditions to the Arctic Ocean. This analysis tied together seismic stratigraphic interpretations for the shelf and the deep-water part of the ocean. The stratigraphic framework is based on age data derived from linear magnetic anomalies in the Eurasia Basin, borehole data for the Lomonosov Ridge and Alaska Shelf, and correlations with various regional geological events. Six seismic boundaries were identified and traced regionally over large areas. We present as a hypothesis that the Arctic Ocean probably was formed during four phases with different kinematics: 133-125 Ma – Canada Basin opening, 125-80 Ma – superplume-related tectonics and magmatism in the Alpha-Mendeleev Rise area and adjacent basins, 80-56 Ma - strike-slip fault tectonics, and 56-0 Ma – Eurasia Basin opening. The time interval of 45-20 Ma appears to be a period of large-scale vertical intraplate movements and normal faulting. Climatic events are recorded in the sedimentary cover of the Arctic Ocean. The analyses were based on a comprehensive dataset that included more than 23,000 km of 2D seismic lines, which were acquired in the deep-water part of the ocean, supplemented by a large number of federal and commercial seismic lines, which were acquired for the Russian shelves during the past 10-15 years. In addition, special multiple Russian expeditions collected samples on scarps of the Mendeleev Rise that served as ground truth for the seismic interpretation.

We present an atlas of paleogeographic and paleotectonic maps which documents major events in the Arctic for 0–157 Ma. We demonstrate that the Mendeleev Ridge has a continental basement. The following chronology of events in the history of the Arctic Ocean is proposed: (1) Jurassic: continental rifting in the area of the Sverdrup-Banks basins and in the area of the present-day Canada Basin; a system of continental-margin volcanic belts formed in the region of Chukotka and the Verkhoyansk-Omolon; (2) Berriasian-Barremian: formation of the continental-margin Verkhoyansk-Chukotka Orogen; fast opening of Canada Basin (~133–125 Ma); (3) Aptian-Albian: formation of continental igneous provinces, rifting and magmatism in the area of the Alpha-Mendeleev ridges; rifting in the Ust’-Lena, Anisin, North-Chukchi, Podvodnikov and Toll basins; (4) Cenomanian-Campanian: intraplate magmatism in the area of the Alpha-Mendeleev ridges; (5) Campanian-Maastrichtian: a likely start of compressional deformations in the area of the Chukchi Sea; (6) Paleocene: formation of the continental-margin orogen; continental rifting along the present-day Eurasia Basin and the Ust’-Lena Basin; (7) Early-Middle Eocene: onset of opening of the Eurasia Basin started; (8) Middle-Late Eocene: a major restructuring of paleogeography of the Arctic took place at ca. 45 Ma with subaerial emergence of the Barents and Kara Sea shelves and onset of ultra-slow spreading of the Gakkel Ridge, and start of the epoch of formation of normal and strike-slip faults on the Lomonosov and Alpha-Mendeleev ridges and on the shelves of the Chukchi and East Siberian seas. Paleoclimate is discussed in connection with changes in the paleogeography.

The rapidly changing conditions of the Arctic sea ice system have cascading impacts on the biogeochemical cycles of the ocean. Sea ice transports sediments, nutrients, trace metals, pollutants, and gases from the extensive continental shelves into the more isolated central basins. However, it is difficult to assess the net contribution of this supply mechanism on nutrients in the surface ocean. In this study, we used Manganese (Mn), a micronutrient and tracer which can integrate source fluctuations in space and time, to understand the net impact of the long range transport of sea ice for Mn.We developed a three-dimensional dissolved Mn model within a subdomain of the 1/12 degree Arctic and Northern Hemispheric Atlantic (ANHA12) configuration of NEMO centred on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and evaluated this model with in situ observations from the 2015 Canadian GEOTRACES cruises. The Mn model incorporates parameterizations for the contributions from river discharge, sediment resuspension, atmospheric deposition of aerosols directly to the ocean and via melt from sea ice, release of sediment from sea ice, and reversible scavenging, while the NEMO-TOP engine takes care of the advection and diffusion of the tracers. Simulations with this model from 2002 to 2019 indicate that the majority of external Mn contributed annually to the Canada Basin surface is released by sediment from sea ice, much of which originates from the Siberian shelves. Reduced sea ice longevity in the Siberian shelf regions has been postulated to result in the disruption of the long range transport of sea ice by the transpolar drift. This reduced sea ice supply has the potential to decrease the Canada Basin Mn surface maximum and downstream Mn supply, with implications for other nutrients (such as Fe) contained in ice-rafted sediments as well. These results demonstrate some of the many changes to the biogeochemical supply mechanisms expected in the near-future in the Arctic Ocean and the subpolar seas.

The 3.3 million km2 marine ecosystem around the North Pole, defined as the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO), is a blind spot on the map of the world’s fish stocks. The CAO essentially comprises the permanently ice-covered deep basins and ridges outside the continental shelves, and is only accessible by ice-breakers. Traditional trawling for assessing fish stocks is impossible under the thick pack ice, and coherent hydroacoustic surveys are unachievable due to ice-breaking noise. Consequently, nothing is known about the existence of any pelagic fish stocks in the CAO, although juveniles of Boreogadus saida richly occur at the surface associated with the sea ice and ice-associated Arctogadus glacialis has been reported as well. We here present a first indication of a possible mesopelagic fish stock in the CAO. We had the opportunity to analyse a geophysical hydroacoustic data set with 13 time windows of usable acoustic data over a transect from 84.4 °N in the Nansen Basin, across the North Pole (90.0 °N), to 82.4 °N in the Canada Basin. We discovered a deep scattering layer (DSL), suggesting the presence of zooplankton and fish, at 300–600 m of depth in the Atlantic water layer of the CAO. Maximum possible fish abundance and biomass was very low; values of ca. 2,000 individuals km−2 and ca. 50 kg km−2 were calculated for the DSL in the North-Pole area according to a model assuming that all acoustic backscatter represents 15-cm long B. saida and/or A. glacialis. The true abundance and biomass of fish is even lower than this, but cannot be quantified from this dataset due to possible backscatter originating from pneumatophores of physonect siphonophores that are known to occur in the area. Further studies on the DSL of the CAO should include sampling and identification of the backscattering organisms. From our study we can conclude that if the central Arctic DSL contains fish, their biomass is currently too low for any sustainable fishery.

The Atlas summarizes geological and geophysical data acquired in recent years while preparing the 1:1 M State Geological Map of the Russian Federation and the implementation of the international project Atlas of Geological Maps of the Arctic. A set of tectono-stratigraphic charts has been produced for Arctic islands (Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island) and the continental land (Taimyr Peninsula, Northeast Eurasia). Results of the latest studies, including international ones, on the determination of main stages of tectonic evolution in Arctic regions, specification of petrological composition and age of sedimentary and igneous complexes, as well as paleogeographic and geodynamic setting of their formation for each tectonic stage have been taken into account. A set of maps including the 1:5 M Geological Map, Tectonic Map, Paleogeographic maps for age levels was prepared based on a comprehensive analysis of seismic data and geological studies for the North-East of the Russian Federation and adjacent water areas. The general pattern in geology of the studied area has been identified; it is reflected in the gradual change of the Cretaceous fold area to the Baikalian and Elesmerian fold areas in the northern direction. On the Mendeleev Rise, Precambrian consolidation block is reconstructed from results of bottom stone sampling. Main tectonic structures of the East Siberian shelf are traced to the deepwater part of the Arctic Ocean. Cretaceous movements were most pronounced in the junction zone of the Canada Basin and the Wrangel-Geraldine Block, where a thick thrust zone and the North Chukchi Foredeep are formed. To the west, on the De Long Islands and Kotelny Island, the Cretaceous dislocations are much less pronounced; here, the structural geometry that formed in the Late Paleozoic is preserved.

An important yet still not well documented aspect of recent changes in the Arctic Ocean is associated with the advection of anomalous sub-Arctic Atlantic- and Pacific-origin waters and biota into the polar basins, a process which we refer to as borealization. Using a 37-year archive of observations (1981–2017) we demonstrate dramatically contrasting regional responses to atlantification (that part of borealization related to progression of anomalies from the Atlantic sector of sub-Arctic seas into the Arctic Ocean) and pacification (the counterpart of atlantification associated with influx of anomalous Pacific waters). Particularly, we show strong salinification of the upper Eurasian Basin since 2000, with attendant reductions in stratification, and potentially altered nutrient fluxes and primary production. These changes are closely related to upstream conditions. In contrast, pacification is strongly manifested in the Amerasian Basin by the anomalous influx of Pacific waters, creating conditions favorable for increased heat and freshwater content in the Beaufort Gyre halocline and expansion of Pacific species into the Arctic interior. Here, changes in the upper (overlying) layers are driven by local Arctic atmospheric processes resulting in stronger wind/ice/ocean coupling, increased convergence within the Beaufort Gyre, a thickening of the fresh surface layer, and a deepening of the nutricline and deep chlorophyll maximum. Thus, a divergent (Eurasian Basin) gyre responds altogether differently than does a convergent (Amerasian Basin) gyre to climate forcing. Available geochemical data indicate a general decrease in nutrient concentrations Arctic-wide, except in the northern portions of the Makarov and Amundsen Basins and northern Chukchi Sea and Canada Basin. Thus, changes in the circulation pathways of specific water masses, as well as the utilization of nutrients in upstream regions, may control the availability of nutrients in the Arctic Ocean. Model-based evaluation of the trajectory of the Arctic climate system into the future suggests that Arctic borealization will continue under scenarios of global warming. Results from this synthesis further our understanding of the Arctic Ocean’s complex and sometimes non-intuitive Arctic response to climate forcing by identifying new feedbacks in the atmosphere-ice-ocean system in which borealization plays a key role.

New U–Pb SIMS zircon datings from granitoid plutons and dikes of Western Chukotka, together with data obtained earlier, confirm that postcollisional granitoid magmatism and dike intrusion occurred in the Aptian–Albian (117–105 Ma ago) and marked a change in the tectonic regime during tectonic evolution of Chukotka Mesozoides from collision to extension. These events might be related to the opening of the Amerasian Basin, which had begun in the Jurassic, and to the formation (in the Aptian–Albian time) of the Makarov and Podvodnikov oceanic basins, as well as the Anakhurgen, Nutesyn, and Kameshkov basins in the continental framework of the Eastern Arctic. The synchronicity of the tectonic extension and spreading events in the Canada Basin, on the one hand, and collisional events, deformations, and reorganization of structural style and sedimentary environment in the South Anyui suture, on the other hand, is noted. This may be regarded as confirmation of the rotation hypothesis of formation of the Amerasian Basin.

In the summer Arctic, bump-like vertical temperature profiles of the upper layer in the Canada Basin suggest a near-surface temperature maximum (NSTM) beneath the mixed layer. This paper concentrates on describing the decadal variance of these NSTMs. Essentially, the temporal evolution of the summer NSTM revealed three decadal phases. The first period is before 2003, when the summer NSTM could rarely be observed except around the marginal of the Canada Basin. The second period is between 2003 and 2015, when the summer NSTM nearly occurred over the whole basin as accelerated decline of summer sea ice. The third period is from 2016 to 2017, when the summer NSTM almost disappeared due to prevailing warm surface water. Furthermore, for the background behind the decadal variance of summer NSTM, linear trends of the September minimum sea ice extent and surface water heat content in the Canada Basin from 2003 to 2017 were –2.75±1.08×104km2yr–1 and 2.29±1.36MJ m–2yr–1, respectively. According to a previous theory, if we assume that the trend of the summer surface water heat content was only contributed by NSTM, it would cause a decrease in sea ice thickness of approximately 13 cm. The analysis partially explains the reason for sea ice decline in recent years.

The Circum-Arctic terrains comprise series of complex geological structures, with fragments of Archaean to Paleoproterozoic shields and platforms, remains of orogenic belts of Neo-proterozoic to Cenozoic ages, Paleozoic and Mesozoic platforms and sedimentary basins, large igneous provinces, and Mesozoic-Cenozoic rift structures and basin fill in the northern North Atlantic and Central Arctic Ocean. Major orogenic events include the Neoproterozoic Timian Orogeny, the Mid Paleozoic Caledonian and Eurekean orogenies, the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic Ellesmerian and Uralian orogenies, and the Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic Eurekan orogeny. The breakup of Arctida-II in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, and the Cenozoic sea-floor spreading in the North Atlantic and Polar Ocean, led to significant redistribution of land masses and to the formation of the present Arctic Ocean shelves and basins. The central Arctic Ocean remains one of the more debated areas in terms of plate tectonic evolution. Most models include spreading in the Canada Basin (southern Amerasia Basin) at ca. 125–80 Ma, the Makarov-Podvodnikov Basin (northern Amerasia Basin) at around 80–60 Ma, and the Eurasia Basin at ca. 55-0 Ma. Different crustal and tectonic models for the Amerasia and Eurasia basins and their margins are discussed, and present knowledge of the basin fill histories briefly reviewed. The present paper serves as an introduction to the current Special Issue on the Geodynamics of the Arctic.

An intrahalocline eddy was observed on the Chukchi slope in September of 2015 using both towed CTD and microstructure temperature and shear sections. The core of the eddy was 6°C, significantly warmer than the surrounding −1°C water and far exceeding typical temperatures of warm-core Arctic eddies. Microstructure sections indicated that outside of the eddy the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy ε was quite low . However, at the edges of the eddy core, ε was elevated to . Three different processes were associated with elevated ε. Double-diffusive steps were found at the eddy’s top edge and were associated with an upward heat flux of 5 W m−2. At the bottom edge of the eddy, shear-driven mixing played a modest role, generating a heat flux of approximately 0.5 W m−2 downward. Along the sides of the eddy, density-compensated thermohaline intrusions transported heat laterally out of the eddy, with a horizontal heat flux of 2000 W m−2. Integrating these fluxes over an idealized approximation of the eddy’s shape, we estimate that the net heat transport due to thermohaline intrusions along the eddy flanks was 2 GW, while the double-diffusive flux above the eddy was 0.4 GW. Shear-driven mixing at the bottom of the eddy accounted for only 0.04 GW. If these processes continued indefinitely at the same rate, the estimated life-span would be 1–2 years. Such eddies may be an important mechanism for the transport of Pacific-origin heat, freshwater, and nutrients into the Canada Basin.

Climatological water-mass structures were identified in the Arctic Ocean using the geochemical dataset in the Hydrochemical Atlas of the Arctic Ocean (HAAC) as well as data on a geochemically conserved parameter, PO4*, based on phosphate and dissolved oxygen. In the upper ocean above a depth of 500m, the HAAC was found to reliably depict the boundary between Pacific-Origin Water (P-Water) and Atlantic-Origin Water (A-Water), which is aligned 135 degrees E-45 degrees W near the surface but rotates counterclockwise with depth. Thus, the Arctic and Atlantic oceans exchange high-silicate P-Water and low-silicate A-Water. The PO4* field in the lower ocean below a depth of 1500m was analyzed statistically, and the results indicated that the Eurasian Basin receives low-PO4* Nordic Seas Deep Water, which flows along the bottom from the Greenland Sea. The routes from the upper ocean to the lower ocean were determined. Only the southern portion of the Canada Basin, which receives water from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, has high PO4* levels; the rest of the Amerasian Basin receives low-PO4* water from the Laptev Sea and/or the Barents Sea. The Eurasian Basin receives moderate levels of PO4* from the Fram Strait and from the intermediate layer. The intermediate-layer water gradually travels up from the lower ocean and returns to the Atlantic, entraining the subsurface portion. It is likely that high-PO4* water occasionally flows down from the upper ocean along Greenland, making the Eurasian Basin heterogeneous.

Two alternative tectonic models for the formation of the Amerasia Basin are presented. The models provide a series of paleoreconstructions based on comprehensive analysis of bathymetry, gravity, and magnetic fields of the Arctic region, combined with available seismic survey and geological data. The two equally probable alternatives for the kinematics behind the early stage formation of the proto-Canada Basin, rely on three alternative age models for the timing of the tectonic events. The first two models date the opening of the central, oceanic part of the Canada Basin to before or after ∼124 Ma. The third model considers that the formation of the entire basin, including the lateral parts, occurred after ∼125 Ma. Six possible plate kinematic models have been developed by combining the three age models with the two series of the paleoreconstructions; i.e. two “older” kinematic models (1A and 1B) and four “younger” ones (2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B). The preferred option is the “older” models, which suggests that the first stage of the Canada Basin formation took place in the Jurassic – Berriasian, and that the central oceanic part of the Basin was developed in Valanginian (?) – Barremian. This concurs with the active phase of the final stage of the Arctida craton breakup and the main phase of the High Arctic Igneous Province emplacement. Large sinistral strike-slip, i.e. the Alpha-Chukchi and Alpha-Mendeleev fracture zones, as well as an inferred dextral Podvodnikov-Mendeleev fracture zone, were developed during the Arctida breakup process. The formation of the fracture zones contributed to the opening of the Nautilus, Makarov and Podvodnikov basins in the Valanginian (?)/Barremian – Campanian. Presumably, there were different geodynamic drivers for the processes at the two stage formation of the Amerasia Basin: subduction of an ancient oceanic lithosphere outside of the study area at the early stage, and an Arctic mantle plume at the late stage.

Water properties and formation processes of Alaskan Coastal Winter Water (ACWW) over the eastern Chukchi shelf along the Alaska coast, the so-called Barrow Canyon pathway, are examined using data from moorings, atmospheric reanalysis, satellite-derived sea-ice production (SIP), and a numerical tracer experiment. Along this pathway, Pacific Winter Water (PWW) can be modified to produce ACWW through SIP accompanied by production of cold, saline polynya water in the coastal polynyas, upwelling of warm Atlantic Water (AW), and mixing processes on the shelf. Three different types of ACWW are formed: (i) a mixture of AW and PWW, (ii) a mixture of AW and polynya water, and (iii) hypersaline polynya water. The northeasterly winds, correlated with the north-south atmospheric pressure gradient between Beaufort High and Aleutian Low, are common triggers of polynya SIP episodes and AW upwelling in the Barrow Coastal Polynya (BCP). Due to the dual impact of northeasterly winds, PWW modification processes in the BCP are more complicated than what occurs elsewhere in the Chukchi Polynya. The impact of AW upwelling on the ACWW formation is most prominent in the BCP, usually centered along the coast. All types of ACWW are thought to be basically transported westward or northwestward with the Chukchi slope current and/or Beaufort Gyre and finally contribute to maintenance of the lower halocline layer especially over the Chukchi Borderland, Northwind Ridge, and southern Canada Basin. Even in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean, ACWW properties are strongly influenced by both Atlantic-origin and Pacific-origin waters.

Devonian reefs are widespread in the West Canada Basin in three regions: lower Givetian in the north (Elk Point subbasin), upper Givetian and middle Frasnian in the central part (framing of the Peace River Arch), and middle Frasnian (southern end of the basin). Each stage of reef formation ended with regression, and the last reefs terminated long before the Frasnian/Famennian biotic crisis and mass extinction. Reefs of this basin are petroliferous. Moreover, the structure of reservoirs is determined by the reef type, and the highest reservoir properties are related to bioherm varieties in reefs.

We present observational estimates of Ekman pumping in the Beaufort Gyre region. Averaged over the Canada Basin, the results show a 2003–14 average of 2.3 m yr−1 downward with strong seasonal and interannual variability superimposed: monthly and yearly means range from 30 m yr−1 downward to 10 m yr−1 upward. A clear, seasonal cycle is evident with intense downwelling in autumn and upwelling during the winter months, despite the wind forcing being downwelling favorable year-round. Wintertime upwelling is associated with friction between the large-scale Beaufort Gyre ocean circulation and the surface ice pack and contrasts with previous estimates of yearlong downwelling; as a consequence, the yearly cumulative Ekman pumping over the gyre is significantly reduced. The spatial distribution of Ekman pumping is also modified, with the Beaufort Gyre region showing alternating, moderate upwelling and downwelling, while a more intense, yearlong downwelling averaging 18 m yr−1 is identified in the northern Chukchi Sea region. Implications of the results for understanding Arctic Ocean dynamics and change are discussed.

The paper considers Cretaceous magmatism at the continental margin of the Arctic Region. It is shown that Cretaceous igneous rocks of this region are rather heterogeneous in age, composition, and geodynamic formation setting. This differentiates them from rocks of typical large igneous provinces (LIPs). Local areas of magmatic activity, their substantial remoteness them from one another, and significant distinctions in age, composition of rocks, and formation conditions prevent us from unreservedly combining all occurrences of Cretaceous magmatism at the continental margin of the Arctic Region into a common igneous province. The stage of tholeiitic magmatism in the Svalbard Archipelago, Franz Josef Land, Arctic Canada, and the Alpha–Mendeleev Rise, which can be considered an LIP, began in the Early Cretaceous and continued for a long time, at least until the Campanian. The magmatism apparently had a plume source and was caused by extension during opening of the Canada Basin. Tholeiitic magmatism gave way to the alkaline magmatism stage from the Campanian to the onset of the Paleocene, related to continental rifting at the initial stage of formation of Eurasian Basin in the Arctic Region. No convincing evidence for a genetic link between Early Cretaceous tholeiitic and Late Cretaceous alkaline magmatism is known at present, nor for the alkaline magmatism belonging to a plume source.

The deep waters in the Canada Basin display a complex temperature and salinity structure, the evolution of which is poorly understood. The fundamental physical processes driving changes in these deep water masses are investigated using an inverse method based on tracer conservation combined with empirical orthogonal function analysis of repeat hydrographic measurements between 2003 and 2015. Changes in tracer fields in the deep Canada Basin are found to be dominated by along-isopycnal diffusion of water properties from the margins into the central basin, with advection by the large-scale Beaufort Gyre circulation as well as localized, vertical mixing playing important secondary roles. In the Barents Sea branch of the Atlantic Water layer, centered around 1200-m depth, diffusion is shown to be nearly twice as important as advection to lateral transport. Along-isopycnal diffusivity is estimated to be ~300–600 m2 s−1. Large-scale circulation patterns and lateral advective velocities associated with the anticyclonic Beaufort Gyre are inferred, with an average speed of 0.6 cm s−1. Below about 1500 m, along-isopycnal diffusivity is estimated to be ~200–400 m2 s−1.

Data from a four-mooring array deployed across the shelf and slope of Mackenzie Canyon, from 2016 to 2018, are used to characterize wind-driven upwelling and downwelling events and investigate their impact on the transport of water masses. We distinguish between coastal upwelling/downwelling forced by the along-coast wind stress, and canyon upwelling/downwelling associated with the wind stress curl in the Canada Basin. During coastal upwelling (downwelling), the isopycnals slope upward (downward) above the shelf bathymetry, and the normally westward-flowing shelf current is strengthened (reversed). During canyon upwelling (downwelling), the isopycnals slope upward (downward) progressing onshore relative to the background condition, and the cyclonic recirculation in the canyon is stronger (weaker), with an up-canyon (down-canyon) component on the upper slope. During periods of simultaneous coastal and canyon upwelling, Atlantic Water from the basin can be fluxed onto the shelf. These occurrences are dictated by the combination of three factors: the coastal upwelling strength, canyon upwelling strength, and the background depth of the offshore Pacific Water-Atlantic Water interface. Dense winter water is formed on the shelf by enhanced air-sea buoyancy flux during freeze-up and subsequent openings in the ice. During simultaneous coastal and canyon downwelling this water be fluxed offshore into the canyon, with the potential to ventilate the interior halocline.

The expansion of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)-rich water carried by the Pacific inflow creates a DIC maximum layer and exerts important influences on ocean acidification in the subsurface Arctic Ocean. This study analyzed shifts in the DIC distribution of the subsurface Arctic Ocean during 1998–2015 through hindcast simulation using a three-dimensional ocean-sea ice-biogeochemical model. For this purpose, the study was divided into two time periods (1998–2007 and 2008–2015). The results showed that the lower boundary layer of the Pacific Winter Water, defined as an isopycnal of 27 kg m−3, became deeper by ∼50 m in the central Canada Basin and expanded northward during 2008–2015 relative to 1998–2007. Accordingly, the subsurface DIC maximum layer deepened and expanded northwards into the Makarov Basin at high latitudes around 85° N. During 2008–2015, DIC concentrations, averaged over a 50–250 m water column, increased significantly in the Chukchi-East Siberian Shelfbreak and Makarov Basin. The DIC increase over the shelfbreak is mainly attributable to increased local biological degradation and the transportation of DIC-rich water from the Chukchi Shelf through Barrow Canyon. Estimates of the DIC budget indicated that advection controlled the increase in DIC content in the Makarov Basin during 2008–2015. This is attributed to the shift of the ocean circulation pattern, in which the ocean current along the Chukchi-East Siberian Slope to the Makarov Basin became stronger during 2008–2015, promoting the transport of DIC-rich Pacific Water into the Makarov Basin.

Canada Basin Abyssal Plain (CBAP) of the Arctic Ocean is incredibly flat and featureless at first appearance. Sediments of the basin have been interpreted to be turbidites interbedded with hemipelagic sediments. It is hypothesised, however, that deep-ocean geostrophic currents are active here as they are in most ocean basins. Compilations of modern bathymetry and subbottom profiler data are used to assess the possibility of ocean currents and their influence on sediment distribution within Canada Basin. Off of the Alaska-Beaufort margin, eastwardly deflected levees and fans in 3000 to 3800 m water depth along with oblique sediment waves on top of these features suggest a mixed system of turbidity currents influenced by cyclonic flowing geostrophic currents. These features probably formed during glaciations and lower sea level stands when the adjacent Chukchi Shelf was subaerial. Sediment delivery to the margin was likely more pronounced than today, and bottom current activity was presumably intensified. A large (100 km-wide) plastered drift and smaller bedforms were revealed by subbottom profile data along the Canadian Arctic Archipelago margin, in 3000 to 3850 m water depth. It is presumed that these deposits were formed as plumes of sediment, input through glacial outwash or outwash via the Mackenzie River. These plumes were then affected by deep contour-following currents to produce contourites. Large (up to 30 km wavelength) migrating bedforms within northern CBAP are believed to have resulted from turbidity current plumes sourced from the Mackenzie Fan that were additionally influenced by contour current reworking as part of returning cyclonic flow of deep geostrophic currents. There is little to no age control to groundtruth the stratigraphy observed in seismic profiles, but it seems likely, given their near-surface appearance, that sediment input and bottom current intensity was heavily influenced by climatic conditions related to past glaciations and associated relative sea level changes.

A budget of meteoric water (MW = river runoff, net precipitation minus evaporation, and glacial meltwater) over four regions of the Arctic Ocean is constructed using a simple box model, regional precipitation-evaporation estimates from reanalysis data sets, and estimates of import and export fluxes derived from the literature with a focus on the 2003–2008 period. The budget indicates an approximate/slightly positive balance between MW imports and exports (i.e., no change in storage); thus, the observed total freshwater increase observed during this time period likely resulted primarily from changes in non-MW freshwater components (i.e., increases in sea ice melt or Pacific water and/or a decrease in ice export). Further, our analysis indicates that the MW increase observed in the Canada Basin resulted from a spatial redistribution of MW over the Arctic Ocean. Mean residence times for MW were estimated for the Western Arctic (5–7 years), Eastern Arctic (3–4 years), and Lincoln Sea (1–2 years). The MW content over the Siberian shelves was estimated (∼14,000 km3) based on a residence time of 3.5 years. The MW content over the entire Arctic Ocean was estimated to be ≥44,000 km3. The MW export through Fram Strait consisted mostly of water from the Eastern Arctic (3,237 ± 1,370 km3 yr−1) whereas the export through the Canadian Archipelago was nearly equally derived from both the Western Arctic (1,182 ± 534 km3 yr−1) and Lincoln Sea (972 ± 391 km3 yr−1).

Seawater samples for the measurements of 226Ra, 228Ra and stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) were collected from the Bering and Chukchi Seas in the summer of 2014. The fractions of meteoric water (fMW) and sea-ice melted water (fSIM) were estimated based on the mass balance of salinity and δ18O with a three end-member mixing model. Our results showed that the average fMW increased northward from the Bering Basin to the Canada Basin while the fSIM distributed homogeneously. The lowest fMW and 228Ra/226Ra)A.R. values were found in the upper Bering Basin with little terrestrial input. The highest fMW but low 228Ra/226Ra)A.R. appeared in the northern Chukchi Sea and the Canada Basin, ascribing to the current-driven accumulation of freshwater and its long residence time. More abundant sea-ice melted water was found on the pack-ice edge, indicating the trap of earlier melted waters by the ice pack. Based upon the linear relationships between 228Ra/226Ra)A.R. and fMW in the Bering Shelf and the Chukchi Shelf, the transit time for the Pacific inflow was constrained. The transit time of river water from the Bering Shelf to the Chukchi Shelf was estimated as 0.2–4.4 years with an average of 1.6 ± 1.5 years, while that from the Chukchi Shelf to the Canada Basin was 10.2–13.2 years with an average of 11.8 ± 1.1 years. The spatial variation of the transit time was mainly affected by the current intensity. Our study highlights the importance of in-depth evaluation for the subarctic-arctic exchange.

Synthesis of seismic velocity, potential field, and geological data from Canada Basin and its surrounding continental margins suggest that a northeast-trending structural fabric has influenced the origin, evolution, and current tectonics of the basin. This structural fabric has a crustal origin, based on the persistence of these trends in upward continuation of total magnetic intensity data and vertical derivative analysis of free air gravity data. Three sub-parallel northeast trending features are described. Northwind Escarpment, bounding the east side of the Chukchi Borderland, extends ∼600 km and separates continental crust of Northwind Ridge from high-velocity transitional crust in Canada Basin. A second, shorter northeast-trending zone extends ∼300 km in northern Canada Basin and separates inferred continental crust of Sever Spur from magmatically intruded crust of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province. A third northeast-trending feature, here called the Alaska-Prince Patrick magnetic lineament (APPL) is inferred from magnetic data and its larger regional geologic setting. Analysis of these three features suggests strike-slip or transtensional deformation played a role in the opening of Canada Basin. These features can be explained by initial Jurassic-Early Cretaceous strike slip deformation (phase 1) followed in the Early Cretaceous (∼134 to ∼124 Ma) by rotation of Arctic Alaska with sea-floor spreading orthogonal to the fossil spreading axis preserved in the central Canada Basin (phase 2). In this model, the Chukchi Borderland is part of Arctic Alaska.

Winter subsurface transport of the Pacific-origin warm water toward the Arctic Chukchi Borderland located west of the Canada Basin was investigated by mooring measurements and modeling analyses. In mid-winter or spring of 2011–2014, subsurface warming signals under sea ice were detected by the multi-year bottom-tethered mooring data in the Chukchi Abyssal Plain (CAP) of the western Chukchi Borderland. Lateral advection of shelf-origin ocean heat is a key process for the subsurface warming. To address the detailed pathways and processes of subsurface warm water transport, which have not been deeply explored, an interannual experiment for 2001–2014 was performed using a pan-Arctic sea ice-ocean model configured in a high-resolution framework. The horizontal grid size was set to approximately 5 km so that narrow intense currents along complex sharp topography could be resolved. The model result captured the similar seasonality of subsurface temperature in the CAP region and produced interannual variability in the ocean heat content associated with the shelf-origin water distribution around the Chukchi Borderland. In addition to the Barrow Canyon throughflow, westward jets along the steep flank of the Chukchi shelf break constituted a primary pathway for the subsurface warm water transport toward the Chukchi Borderland in the model experiment. Since the simulated shelf break jet was much faster than main streams of the Beaufort Gyre, its role in ocean heat transport should be considered separately. Whereas ocean heat in the Chukchi shelf break region was partly lost via wind-driven turbulent mixing into upper halocline depths of approximately 20 m, a substantial amount of the subsurface warm water remained even after mid-winter. The highly stratified condition due to anomalous sea ice meltwater assisted the winter heat transport.

Hanna Shoal, in the northeastern Chukchi Sea, is potentially vulnerable to ecosystem disruption under ongoing climate change, however aspects of its ecology, particularly of its zooplankton, have been poorly understood. Mesozooplankton distribution, taxonomic composition, and abundance were described from across Hanna Shoal in August 2012 and 2013 as part of the multidisciplinary COMIDA Hanna Shoal Program. Zooplankton were collected using vertical tows of paired Bongo nets equipped with 150-µm and 500-µm mesh nets; samples from the 150-µm mesh nets were enumerated to identify and count taxa, copepod species, and copepod life stages. Haplotypes of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (mtCOI) gene were used to differentiate Bering and Arctic haplotype groups of the copepod Calanus glacialis and to differentiate C. glacialis and its close congener C. marshallae. The meroplankton, particularly bivalve larvae and in 2012 echinoderm larvae, were an important component of the zooplankton and were of greater abundance on the eastern portion of the Shoal than elsewhere. Regions identified on the basis of different taxonomic compositions were associated with different water masses and current pathways. The northeast corner of the Shoal in particular was distinct from the remainder of the Shoal and from Barrow Canyon, with both different life stage compositions and unique Arctic haplotypes of the mtCOI gene for C. glacialis/marshallae, suggesting populations at those locations originated in the Arctic Ocean rather than the Bering Sea. Bering Sea Summer water, and intrinsic plankton, was observed in the southwest portion of the Shoal. Comparisons with historic and recent studies done near Hanna Shoal demonstrated that similar plankton compositions were present across a broad region of the Chukchi Sea and that abundances of the copepod C. glacialis appear to be increasing on the time scale of decades, potentially through increased input from the northern Bering Sea. Because the Chukchi Sea is highly advective, it is likely that zooplankton populations over Hanna Shoal are lost to the Canada Basin to the north and must be re-established annually through input from the northern Bering Sea. Under this scenario, enhancement of a resident Hanna Shoal zooplankton community that would retain a significant proportion of the primary production in the water column is unlikely.

Dissolved methane (CH4) was measured at various depths in the western Arctic Ocean. The CH4 concentrations at the surface show an increasing trend northward toward stations at the shelf break and a decreasing trend toward stations in the Canada Basin. The mean sea-to-air flux is estimated to be 10.08 μmol/m2/d, indicates that the Chukchi Sea shelf (CSS) is an active site of CH4. Methane concentrations at the shelf stations increase from the surface to the bottom, and the maximum nutrient concentrations occur in the bottom layer. Strong correlations exist between CH4 and PO43-, SiO42-, or NO2-, suggesting that the production of CH4 is likely related to the degradation of organic matter in the sediment, supporting a biogenic source. At the slope and basin stations, the maximum values were observed in the subsurface of the upper halocline layer (UHL), and the concentrations decrease with increasing depth. The CH4 concentrations are elevated by ~ 7.9 nmol/L in the UHL compared with the homogeneous CH4 concentrations observed in the deep water. The elevated values in the UHL result primarily from northward spreading of CH4-rich water from the shelf. A mass balance model was used to calculate the CH4 budget in the CSS. The results show that effluxes of CH4 from the sediment-water interface and the in situ production of CH4 represent the major sources of CH4 over the CSS (95%). The main outputs for CH4 in the CSS are the sea-to-air flux and oxidation of CH4 in the water column, which account for 95% of the CH4 exports.

Measurements of late springtime nutrient concentrations in Arctic waters are relatively rare due to the extensive sea ice cover that makes sampling difficult. During the SUBICE cruise in May-June 2014, an extensive survey of hydrography and pre-bloom concentrations of inorganic macronutrients, oxygen, particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, and chlorophyll a was conducted in the northeastern Chukchi Sea. Cold (< -1.5°C) winter water was prevalent throughout the study area, and the water column was weakly stratified. Nitrate (NO3-) concentration averaged 12.6±1.92 μM in surface waters and 14.0±1.91 μM near the bottom and was significantly correlated with salinity. The highest NO3- concentrations were associated with winter water within the Central Channel flow path. NO3- concentrations were much reduced near the northern shelfbreak within the upper halocline waters of the Canada Basin and along the eastern side of the shelf near the Alaskan coast. Net community production (NCP), estimated as the difference in depth-integrated NO3- content between spring (this study) and summer (historical), varied from 28-38 g C m-2 a-1. This is much lower than previous NCP estimates that used NO3- concentrations from the southeastern Bering Sea as a baseline. These results demonstrate the importance of using profiles of NO3- measured as close to the beginning of the spring bloom as possible when estimating local NCP. They also show that once the snow melts in spring, increased light transmission through the sea ice to the waters below the ice could fuel large phytoplankton blooms over a much wider area than previously known.

We measured radiocesium (134Cs and 137Cs) in seawater from the western subarctic area of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean in 2013 and 2014. Fukushima-derived 134Cs in surface seawater was observed in the western subarctic area and Bering Sea but not in the Arctic Ocean. Vertical profile of 134Cs in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean implies that Fukushima-derived 134Cs intruded into the basin from the Bering Sea through subsurface (150 m depth) in 2014.

A combination of δ 18O and salinity data was employed to explore the freshwater balance in the Canada Basin in summer 2008. The Arctic river water and Pacific river water were quantitatively distinguished by using different saline end-members. The fractions of total river water, including the Arctic and Pacific river water, were high in the upper 50 m and decreased with depth as well as increasing latitude. In contrast, the fraction of Pacific river water increased gradually with depth but decreased toward north. The inventory of total river water in the Canada Basin was higher than other arctic seas, indicating that Canada Basin was a main storage region for river water in the Arctic Ocean. The fraction of Arctic river water was higher than Pacific river water in the upper 50 m while the opposite was true below 50 m. As a result, the inventories of Pacific river water were higher than those of Arctic river water, demonstrating that the Pacific inflow through the Bering Strait is the main source of freshwater in the Canada Basin. Both the river water and sea-ice melted water in the permanent ice zone were more abundant than those in the region with sea-ice just melted. The fractions of total river water, Arctic river water, Pacific river water increased northward to the north of 82°N, indicating an additional source of river water in the permanent ice zone of the northern Canada Basin. A possible reason for the extra river water in the permanent ice zone is the lateral advection of shelf waters by the Trans-Polar Drift. The penetration depth of sea-ice melted waters was less than 30 m in the southern Canada Basin, while it extended to 125 m in the northern Canada Basin. The inventory of seaice melted water suggested that sea-ice melted waters were also accumulated in the permanent ice zone, attributing to the trap of earlier melted waters in the permanent ice zone via the Beaufort Gyre.

The Arctic halocline stratification is an important barrier to transport of deep ocean heat to the underside of sea ice. Surface water in the Chukchi Sea, warmed in summer by solar radiation, ventilates the Canada Basin halocline to create a warm layer below the mixed-layer base. The year-round persistence of this layer is shown to be consistent with the seasonal cycle of halocline ventilation. We present hydrographic observations and model results to show how Chukchi Sea density outcrops migrate seasonally as surface fluxes modify salinity and temperature. This migration is such that in winter, isopycnals bounding the warm halocline are blocked from ventilation, while the cool, relatively salty and deeper halocline layers are ventilated. In this way, the warm halocline is isolated by stratification (both vertically and laterally) each winter. Results shed light on the fate and impact to sea ice of the warm halocline under future freshening and warming of the surface Arctic Ocean.

Sediment core ARC4–BN05 collected from the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, covers the late to middle Quaternary (Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1–15, ca. 0.5–0.6 Ma) as estimated by correlation to earlier proposed Arctic Ocean stratigraphies and AMS 14C dating of the youngest sediments. Detailed examination of clay and bulk mineralogy along with grain size, content of Ca and Mn, and planktonic foraminiferal numbers in core ARC4–BN05 provides important new information about sedimentary environments and provenance. We use increased contents of coarse debris as an indicator of glacier collapse events at the margins of the western Arctic Ocean, and identify the provenance of these events from mineralogical composition. Notably, peaks of dolomite debris, including large dropstones, track the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) discharge events to the Arctic Ocean. Major LIS inputs occurred during the stratigraphic intervals estimated as MIS 3, intra-MIS 5 and 7 events, MIS 8, and MIS 10. Inputs from the East Siberian Ice Sheet (ESIS) are inferred from peaks of smectite, kaolinite, and chlorite associated with coarse sediment. Major ESIS sedimentary events occurred in the intervals estimated as MIS 4, MIS 6 and MIS 12. Differences in LIS vs. ESIS inputs can be explained by ice-sheet configurations at different sea levels, sediment delivery mechanisms (iceberg rafting, suspension plumes, and debris flows), and surface circulation. A long-term change in the pattern of sediment inputs, with an apparent step change near the estimated MIS 7/8 boundary (ca. 0.25 Ma), presumably indicates an overall glacial expansion at the western Arctic margins, especially in North America.

The Shallow Water Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment was conducted on the Chukchi Sea continental shelf from October 2016 to November 2017. The experimental goals were to access (1) long-range (basin-scale) and (2) short-range (shallow-water) spatial and temporal energy variation. This letter focuses on a 20-dB energy change of acoustic signals in the frequency band 700–1100 Hz from June to August 2017 occurring along two shallow-water tracks from a common source, correlated with the occurrence of an oceanographic event in the top 150-m water column due to a Pacific Water outflow from the Bering Sea and retreat of the Marginal Ice Zone.

The article of record may be found at https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0001970 The Pacific Arctic Region has experienced decadal changes in atmospheric conditions, seasonal sea-ice coverage, and thermohaline structure that have consequences for underwater sound propagation. To better understand Arctic acoustics, a set of experiments known as the deep-water Canada Basin acoustic propagation experiment and the shallow-water Canada Basin acoustic propagation experiment was conducted in the Canada Basin and on the Chukchi Shelf from summer 2016 to summer 2017. During the experiments, low-frequency signals from five tomo- graphic sources located in the deep basin were recorded by an array of hydrophones located on the shelf. Over the course of the yearlong experiment, the surface conditions transitioned from completely open water to fully ice- covered. The propagation conditions in the deep basin were dominated by a subsurface duct; however, over the slope and shelf, the duct was seen to significantly weaken during the winter and spring. The combination of these surface and subsurface conditions led to changes in the received level of the sources that exceeded 60 dB and showed a dis- tinct spacio-temporal dependence, which was correlated with the locations of the sources in the basin. This paper seeks to quantify the observed variability in the received signals through propagation modeling using spatially sparse environmental measurements. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research Ocean Acoustics Program (ONR OA322) under Grant Nos. N00014-15-1-2144, N00014-15-1-2119, N00014-15-1-2017, N00014-15-1-2068, N00014-15-1-2110, N00014-19-1-2721, N00014-15-1-2898, N00014-15-1-2806, and N00014-18-1- 2140. The basin moored environmental data were supported by the ONR Arctic and Global Prediction Program (ONR AG322) under Grant No. N00014-15-1-2782. Mooring and hydrographic data were collected and made available by the Beaufort Gyre Exploration Program based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (http://www.whoi.edu/beaufortgyre) in collaboration with researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Institute of Ocean Sciences. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research Ocean Acoustics Program (ONR OA322) under Grant Nos. N00014-15-1-2144, N00014-15-1-2119, N00014-15-1-2017, N00014-15-1-2068, N00014-15-1-2110, N00014-19-1-2721, N00014-15-1-2898, N00014-15-1-2806, and N00014-18-1- 2140. The basin moored environmental data were supported by the ONR Arctic and Global Prediction Program (ONR AG322) under Grant No. N00014-15-1-2782. Mooring and hydrographic data were collected and made available by the Beaufort Gyre Exploration Program based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (http://www.whoi.edu/beaufortgyre) in collaboration with researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Institute of Ocean Sciences.

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The relatively shallow sound speed minimum known as the Beaufort Duct, present during the Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment, enabled transmissions from acoustic sources moored within the duct to Seaglider receivers at ranges up to 480 km. The receptions from these broadband sources were used to position the Seagliders at the time of reception both using ranges estimated in real-time and by the acoustic arrival matching (AAM) method, which infers ranges from comparisons with acoustic propagation models in post-processing. Preliminary results indicate that a posteriori data errors are reduced by a factor of 4 or 5 by implementing the AAM localization method.

Acoustic data from the Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment are discussed. These recordings were obtained under seasonally varying sea ice to the north of Alaska during a period of 154 days. They contain signals from sources that were deployed at ranges of 17.5, 29.6, and 237.8 km and ambient sounds from marine mammals and ice-related events. After the area was covered with ice, the amplitude of receptions from the most distant source gradually decreased as scattering features on the underside of the ice developed during fracturing, drifting, ridging, and rafting events. Improvements are presented for an Arctic acoustic model that is based on the parabolic equation method, and the approach is applied to a problem in which variable ice thickness acts as a loss mechanism by scattering energy out of the waveguide. Some of the recordings have a harmonic signature that is believed to be associated with the resonances of ice floes rubbing together, but variations in the harmonics over short time scales cannot be explained in terms of the resonances of an isolated floe. This behavior may be related to the coupling of vibrations at contact points that vary during the relative motions of floes.

We investigated the petrographic composition of coarse-grained clasts (>250 μm) in 117 core-top sediment samples from the western Arctic Ocean (the Amerasian Basin, Chukchi Sea, Alaskan/Beaufort margin and East Siberian Sea). Combined with analyses of bulk sediment mineralogy and grain size, we use the results to elucidate the terrigenous clastic sediment distribution patterns and transport modes in four different regions: (1) In the Chukchi Sea, the Bering Strait Inflow (BSI) contributes most of the sediments, with an additional terrigenous clastic contribution from Northern Alaska and Eastern Siberia. The highest coarse clastic content and a northward-fining of the grain-size distributions are attributed to the winnowing by the BSI. (2) In the Alaskan margin, terrigenous clasts are enriched in sea ice/anchor ice-transported quartz-rich sediments from Northern Alaska, and in addition the Alaska Coastal Current (ACC) contributes sediments originating from the Yukon River. Coarse-grained sediments accumulate near offshore Alaska with the finer fractions being transported further into the Chukchi Sea Shelf. (3) In the East Siberian Sea, coarse clasts are sparse and even absent in most study sites. Combined with the results of previous studies, we conclude that the terrigenous components are derived from the Laptev Sea and the adjacent Siberian Platform. They are transported by the Siberian Coastal Current and sea ice. (4) In the Canada Basin, terrigenous clasts are characterized by carbonate and quartz-rich sediments derived from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). Sediments incorporated in sea ice/anchor ice drift from the CAA to the Beaufort Sea, where they combine with sediments from the Mackenzie River and are then transported into the Canada Basin by the Beaufort Gyre. Sediments and grain size in northern and southern Canada Basin also involve the early Holocene iceberg-entrained IRD from CAA and winnowing/nepheloid transported mica from marginal areas, respectively.