Abstract
Evidence of recent large‐scale change in redox conditions in Arctic Ocean basin sediments is found in profiles of solid phase acid volatile sulfide (AVS), Mn, and Re. AVS occurs at 2.5–5.5 cm in sediment cores collected from all major Arctic basins implying that presently there is a sufficient supply of organic carbon (OC) to deplete O2 and form sulfide. Re, which is mobile under oxic conditions but precipitates under suboxic or anoxic conditions, is not found enriched in the sediments suggesting that AVS is a recent product of enhanced OC fluxes. Estimated diffusion rates suggest that AVS production is recent and that a change from oxic to anoxic diagenesis has taken place within the past 50 y. The most likely origin for such widespread change is the ice climate, and we infer that reduction in ice cover over the past several decades has led to enhanced OC fluxes to the sea floor.
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