Studies of Sedimentary Matter Fluxes along a Long-Term Transoceanic Transect in the North Atlantic and Arctic Interaction Area

Abstract

New data are presented on sedimentary matter fluxes and its main components along a meridional transect (59°30′ N) in the North Atlantic under the effect of multidirectional transport of water masses. The material for the study was collected July 2015 to July 2017 using sediment traps installed as parts of four automatic deep-water sedimentary observatories. In the subsurface layer, the annual variation in fluxes and composition of sinking material are determined by primary production. Bottom sedimentary material fluxes on the slopes of the Reykjanes Ridge are formed under conditions of transport of water masses and, accordingly, suspended particulate matter to the southwest along the ridge from the Iceland–Faroe and Greenland–Iceland rises. There is back transfer of material at the foot of the European continental slope. Sinking material is dominated by the biogenic component, the proportion of which decreases with depth due to dissolution and to less biological activity in the upper layer in winter. The role of lithogenic material is maximum in the bottom layer, where material is additionally supplied from the bottom.