234Th-derived surface export fluxes of POC from the Northern Barents Sea and the Eurasian sector of the Central Arctic Ocean

Abstract

Settling-based surface ocean export of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the western Eurasian sector of the Arctic Ocean was investigated from the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the northern Barents Sea to the North Pole area. Upper ocean profiles of POC were combined with corresponding dissolved and particulate 234Th activities measured with a low-volume at-sea direct beta counting protocol to constrain the 234Th-derived POC export in July and August of 2001 to 6−32mmolm−2d−1 for the Barents Sea MIZ dropping to 2–6mmolm−2d−1 for multi-year-ice (MYI) covered central Arctic stations in Nansen, Amundsen and Makarov basins. Secular equilibrium between 234Th and 238U activities in intermediate to deep waters in the Amundsen Basin (n=10) demonstrated that the at-sea measurement protocol was functioning satisfactorily. There was no distinction in POC export efficiency between the MIZ and the MYI-covered interior basins with an average ratio between 234Th-derived POC export and primary production (so-called ThE ratio) of 44%. A projected increase in primary production with retreat in areal extent of sea ice is thus likely to yield increased POC sequestration in the Arctic Ocean interior.