Eurasian Basin Research Articles

Structure, Transport, and Seasonality of the Atlantic Water Boundary Current North of Svalbard: Results From a Yearlong Mooring Array

AbstractThe characteristics and seasonality of the Svalbard branch of the Atlantic Water (AW) boundary current in the Eurasian Basin are investigated using data from a six‐mooring array deployed near 30°E between September 2012 and September 2013. The instrument coverage extended to 1,200‐m depth and approximately 50 km offshore of the shelf break, which laterally bracketed the flow. Averaged over the year, the transport of the current over this depth range was 3.96 ± 0.32 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3/s). The transport within the AW layer was 2.08 ± 0.24 Sv. The current was typically subsurface intensified, and its dominant variability was associated with pulsing rather than meandering. From late summer to early winter the AW was warmest and saltiest, and its eastward transport was strongest (2.44 ± 0.12 Sv), while from midspring to midsummer the AW was coldest and freshest and its transport was weakest (1.10 ± 0.06 Sv). Deep mixed layers developed through the winter, extending to 400‐ to 500‐m depth in early spring until the pack ice encroached the area from the north shutting off the air‐sea buoyancy forcing. This vertical mixing modified a significant portion of the AW layer, suggesting that, as the ice cover continues to decrease in the southern Eurasian Basin, the AW will be more extensively transformed via local ventilation.

Seafloor Kinematics of the Near-Greenland Region of the Eurasian Basin

The Lincoln Sea floor evolved during stretching of a segment of the continental Greenland –Barents Sea shelf. Prior to the onset of extension, the continental shallow-water Morris Jesup Rise and the Yermak Plateau were a single unit. During rifting, this single continental plateau broke apart, initiating propagation of the Gakkel mid-ocean ridge toward the Atlantic. The breakup continued for ~1.5 Ma, 35.3–33.7 Ma ago. The emplacement of numerous mafic dikes during rifting could have caused the high-amplitude magnetic anomalies on the single plateau. For the first time, the fracture geometry involved in the breakup of the continental crust has been reconstructed, the Euler poles and angle of rotation describing its kinematics have been determined, and the paleobathymetry on the flanks of the fracture have been reconstructed.

Middle Miocene magmatic activity in the Sophia Basin, Arctic Ocean—evidence from dredged basalt at the flanks of Mosby Seamount

The area to the northwest of Svalbard was repeatedly affected by tectono-magmatic events during the opening of the Arctic Ocean including the formation of the Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province, the Late Cretaceous/early Cenozoic birth of the Eurasian Basin, and the establishment of a full seafloor-spreading regime along the Lena Trough/Fram Strait in the middle Miocene. These processes also affected the Sophia Basin located between the Yermak Plateau and the northern Svalbard Shelf. In 2013 a piece of basalt was dredged from the southern flank of the Mosby Seamount, the central landmark within the Sophia Basin. According to Ar–Ar dating on fresh plagioclase the basalt erupted at ~ 13 Ma, contemporaneous with incipient seafloor spreading in the nearby Lena Trough and volcanic activity on northern Svalbard. If the dredged basalt is temporally related to sediment-covered lava flows and sill intrusions around Mosby Seamount, which were revealed by seismic reflections, then the age of the sedimentary cover must be middle Miocene or younger. This finding will improve the regional seismo-stratigraphy.

New Hydrographic Measurements of the Upper Arctic Western Eurasian Basin in 2017 Reveal Fresher Mixed Layer and Shallower Warm Layer Than 2005–2012 Climatology

AbstractIn 2017, Ice Atmosphere Ocean Observing System autonomous drifting platforms provided extensive physical and biogeochemical data in the upper 350 m of the western Eurasian Basin through their 8‐month drift across the Amundsen Basin, the Gakkel Ridge, the Nansen Basin and western Fram Strait. Comparison with WOA13 climatology indicates a fresher surface layer and shallower warm layer in 2017 than in 2005–2012. The Ice Atmosphere Ocean Observing System 2017 data feature two halocline eddies in the Amundsen Basin and two Atlantic Water (AW) mesoscale structures in the Nansen Basin. Analysis of the global (1/12)° Mercator Ocean operational system suggests that the halocline eddies resulted from instabilities in the frontal zone between fresher Makarov waters and saltier Eurasian waters. This frontal region appears to have shifted further southeast in 2017 (near 88°N, 10°E) compared to 2005–2012. The operational system depicts the large AW structure in the Nansen Basin (140 km crossed as far as 83.7°N, 34.5°E) as an AW meander from the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current, which turned into an anticyclonic eddy about a month after the platforms drifted away. The AW structure at 82.8°N, 3°W, northwest of the Yermak Plateau, corresponds to an AW recirculating branch detaching from the Yermak Plateau slope back toward Fram Strait.

Inheritance and style of rifting: incremental structural restoration of the Laptev Sea Rift System, north-eastern Russian Arctic

The Laptev Sea Rift System, on the north-eastern continental margin of the Russian Arctic, is a key area to understand the opening of the Eurasia Basin. The rifts developed since Cretaceous/Early Cenozoic times and consists of five, roughly north–south trending depocentres, controlled by major listric normal faults. Three cross-sections from the rift system were incrementally restored to quantify the amount of extension over time and to reconstruct the geological evolution. We show that since the beginning of rifting, fault activity in the Anisin Basin was unevenly distributed between two symmetrical graben systems. The central Ust’ Lena Rift has a completely different structure: regularly spaced west-dipping faults are interrupted by minor east-dipping faults in only three places. Fault dip decreases from west to east, from 60° to 30°, respectively.

Eastern Arctic Ocean Diapycnal Heat Fluxes through Large Double-Diffusive Steps

AbstractThe diffusive layering (DL) form of double-diffusive convection cools the Atlantic Water (AW) as it circulates around the Arctic Ocean. Large DL steps, with heights of homogeneous layers often greater than 10 m, have been found above the AW core in the Eurasian Basin (EB) of the eastern Arctic. Within these DL staircases, heat and salt fluxes are determined by the mechanisms for vertical transport through the high-gradient regions (HGRs) between the homogeneous layers. These HGRs can be thick (up to 5 m and more) and are frequently complex, being composed of multiple small steps or continuous stratification. Microstructure data collected in the EB in 2007 and 2008 are used to estimate heat fluxes through large steps in three ways: using the measured dissipation rate in the large homogeneous layers; utilizing empirical flux laws based on the density ratio and temperature step across HGRs after scaling to account for the presence of multiple small DL interfaces within each HGR; and averaging estimates of heat fluxes computed separately for individual small interfaces (as laminar conductive fluxes), small convective layers (via dissipation rates within small DL layers), and turbulent patches (using dissipation rate and buoyancy) within each HGR. Diapycnal heat fluxes through HGRs evaluated by each method agree with each other and range from ~2 to ~8 W m−2, with an average flux of ~3–4 W m−2. These large fluxes confirm a critical role for the DL instability in cooling and thickening the AW layer as it circulates around the eastern Arctic Ocean.

Kinematic Model of Development of Eastern Areas of the Gakkel Mid-Ocean Ridge in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean

A new map of the axes of linear magnetic anomalies for eastern regions of the Eurasian Basin has been compiled. Based on the results of Russian geomagnetic surveys, paleoanomaly C25 was distinguished here for the first time, and the transition from rifting to spreading has been dated to the chron interval of С25r–С26n (57.656–59.237 Ma ago). The axis of the zone of splitting of marginal continental fragments of the Lomonosov Ridge from the Siberian shelf has been reconstructed. The Euler poles and angles of rotation that describe the splitting kinematics have been determined for the first time, as well as noncoincidence of conjugate isobaths related to sliding of peripheral continental crust areas along the lithospheric thrust plane.

Comparative Analysis of the Sverdrup and East Barents Sedimentary Basins

A comparative analysis of two large Arctic sedimentary basins was performed: the Sverdrup and East Barents, with emphasis on the quantitative parameters of sedimentation in the Mesozoic, determined by A.B. Ronov’s volumetric method. The similarities and differences of both basins are revealed, in particular, in sediment accumulation areas, in masses of sedimentary material per time unit, and in gross sand ratio. It was concluded that at the end of the Paleozoic and in the Mesozoic, both basins were close to each other but did not merge into one structure. In the Cenozoic, the distance between the basins increased due to spreading of the Eurasian Basin.

Symmetric and Baroclinic Instability in Dense Shelf Overflows

AbstractIn this study, we revisit the problem of rotating dense overflow dynamics by performing nonhydrostatic numerical simulations, resolving submesoscale variability. Thermohaline stratification and buoyancy forcing are based on data from the Eurasian basin of the Arctic Ocean, where overflows are particularly crucial to the exchange of dense water between shelves and deep basins, yet have been studied relatively little. A nonlinear equation of state is used, allowing proper representation of thermohaline structure and mixing. We examine three increasingly complex scenarios: nonrotating 2D, rotating 2D, and rotating 3D. The nonrotating 2D case behaves according to known theory: the gravity current descends alongslope until reaching a relatively shallow neutral buoyancy level. However, in the rotating cases, we have identified novel dynamics: in both 2D and 3D, the submesoscale range is dominated by symmetric instability (SI). Rotation leads to geostrophic adjustment, causing dense water to be confined within the forcing region longer and attain a greater density anomaly. In the 2D case, Ekman drainage leads to descent of the geostrophic jet, forming a highly dense alongslope front. Beams of negative Ertel potential vorticity develop parallel to the slope, initiating SI and vigorous mixing in the overflow. In 3D, baroclinic eddies are responsible for cross-isobath dense water transport, but SI again develops along the slope and at eddy edges. Remarkably, through two different dynamics, the 2D SI-dominated case and 3D eddy-dominated case attain roughly the same final water mass distribution, highlighting the potential role of SI in driving mixing within certain regimes of dense overflows.

Recent Sea Ice Decline Did Not Significantly Increase the Total Liquid Freshwater Content of the Arctic Ocean

Abstract The freshwater stored in the Arctic Ocean is an important component of the global climate system. Currently the Arctic liquid freshwater content (FWC) has reached a record high since the beginning of the last century. In this study we use numerical simulations to investigate the impact of sea ice decline on the Arctic liquid FWC and its spatial distribution. The global unstructured-mesh ocean general circulation model Finite Element Sea Ice–Ocean Model (FESOM) with 4.5-km horizontal resolution in the Arctic region is applied. The simulations show that sea ice decline increases the FWC by freshening the ocean through sea ice meltwater and modifies upper ocean circulation at the same time. The two effects together significantly increase the freshwater stored in the Amerasian basin and reduce its amount in the Eurasian basin. The salinification of the upper Eurasian basin is mainly caused by the reduction in the proportion of Pacific Water and the increase in that of Atlantic Water (AW). Consequently, the sea ice decline did not significantly contribute to the observed rapid increase in the Arctic total liquid FWC. However, the changes in the Arctic freshwater spatial distribution indicate that the influence of sea ice decline on the ocean environment is remarkable. Sea ice decline increases the amount of Barents Sea branch AW in the upper Arctic Ocean, thus reducing its supply to the deeper Arctic layers. This study suggests that all the dynamical processes sensitive to sea ice decline should be taken into account when understanding and predicting Arctic changes.

Stability of the arctic halocline: a new indicator of arctic climate change

In this study, we propose a new Arctic climate change indicator based on the strength of the Arctic halocline, a porous barrier between the cold and fresh upper ocean and ice and the warm intermediate Atlantic Water of the Arctic Ocean. This indicator provides a measure of the vulnerability of sea ice to upward heat fluxes from the ocean interior, as well as the efficiency of mixing affecting carbon and nutrient exchanges. It utilizes the well-accepted calculation of available potential energy (APE), which integrates anomalies of potential density from the surface downwards through the surface mixed layer to the base of the halocline. Regional APE contrasts are striking and show a strengthening of stratification in the Amerasian Basin (AB) and an overall weakening in the Eurasian Basin (EB). In contrast, Arctic-wide time series of APE is not reflective of these inter-basin contrasts. The use of two time series of APE—AB and EB—as an indicator of Arctic Ocean climate change provides a powerful tool for detecting and monitoring transition of the Arctic Ocean towards a seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean. This new, straightforward climate indicator can be used to inform both the scientific community and the broader public about changes occurring in the Arctic Ocean interior and their potential impacts on the state of the ice cover, the productivity of marine ecosystems and mid-latitude weather.

Heat, salt, and volume transports in the eastern Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean from 2 years of mooring observations

Abstract. This study discusses along-slope volume, heat, and salt transports derived from observations collected in 2013–2015 using a cross-slope array of six moorings ranging from 250 to 3900 m in the eastern Eurasian Basin (EB) of the Arctic Ocean. These observations demonstrate that in the upper 780 m layer, the along-slope boundary current advected, on average, 5.1±0.1 Sv of water, predominantly in the eastward (shallow-to-right) direction. Monthly net volume transports across the Laptev Sea slope vary widely, from ∼0.3±0.8 in April 2014 to ∼9.9±0.8 Sv in June 2014; 3.1±0.1 Sv (or 60 %) of the net transport was associated with warm and salty intermediate-depth Atlantic Water (AW). Calculated heat transport for 2013–2015 (relative to −1.8 ∘C) was 46.0±1.7 TW, and net salt transport (relative to zero salinity) was 172±6 Mkg s−1. Estimates for AW heat and salt transports were 32.7±1.3 TW (71 % of net heat transport) and 112±4 Mkg s−1 (65 % of net salt transport). The variability of currents explains ∼90 % of the variability in the heat and salt transports. The remaining ∼10 % is controlled by temperature and salinity anomalies together with the temporal variability of the AW layer thickness. The annual mean volume transports decreased by 25 % from 5.8±0.2 Sv in 2013–2014 to 4.4±0.2 Sv in 2014–2015, suggesting that changes in the transports at interannual and longer timescales in the eastern EB may be significant.

Structure and dynamics of mesoscale eddies over the Laptev Sea continental slope in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract. Heat fluxes steered by mesoscale eddies may be a significant, but still not quantified, source of heat to the surface mixed layer and sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, as well as a source of nutrients for enhancing seasonal productivity in the near-surface layers. Here we use 4 years (2007–2011) of velocity and hydrography records from a moored profiler over the Laptev Sea slope and 15 months (2008–2009) of acoustic Doppler current profiler data from a nearby mooring to investigate the structure and dynamics of eddies at the continental margin of the eastern Eurasian Basin. Typical eddy scales are radii of the order of 10 km, heights of 600 m, and maximum velocities of ∼0.1 m s−1. Eddies are approximately equally divided between cyclonic and anticyclonic polarizations, contrary to prior observations from the deep basins and along the Lomonosov Ridge. Eddies are present in the mooring records about 20 %–25 % of the time, taking about 1 week to pass through the mooring at an average frequency of about one eddy per month. We found that the eddies observed are formed in two distinct regions – near Fram Strait, where the western branch of Atlantic Water (AW) enters the Arctic Ocean, and near Severnaya Zemlya, where the Fram Strait and Barents Sea branches of the AW inflow merge. These eddies, embedded in the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current, carry anomalous water properties along the eastern Arctic continental slope. The enhanced diapycnal mixing that we found within EB eddies suggests a potentially important role for eddies in the vertical redistribution of heat in the Arctic Ocean interior.

Distribution of 210Pb and 210Po in the Arctic water column during the 2007 sea-ice minimum: Particle export in the ice-covered basins

210Pb and 210Po are naturally occurring radionuclides that are commonly used as a proxy for particle and carbon export. In this study, the distribution of the 210Po/210Pb pair was investigated in the water column of the Barents, Kara and Laptev Seas and the Nansen, Amundsen and Makarov Basins in order to understand the particle dynamics in the Arctic Ocean during the 2007 sea-ice minimum (August–September). Minimum activities of total 210Pb and 210Po were found in the upper and lower haloclines (approx. 60–130 m), which are partly attributed to particle scavenging over the shelves, boundary current transport and subsequent advection of the water with low 210Pb and 210Po activities into the central Arctic. Widespread and substantial (> 50%) deficits of 210Po with respect to 210Pb were detected from surface waters to 200 m on the shelves, but also in the basins. This was particularly important in the Makarov Basin where, despite very low chlorophyll-a levels, estimates of annual new primary production were three times higher than in the Eurasian Basin. In the Nansen, Amundsen and Makarov Basins, estimates of annual new primary production correlated with the deficits of 210Po in the upper 200 m of the water column, suggesting that in situ production and subsequent export of biogenic material were the mechanisms that controlled the removal of 210Po in the central Arctic. Unlike 210Po, 234Th deficits measured during the same expedition were found to be very small and not significant below 25 m in the basins (Cai et al., 2010), which indicates, given the shorter half-life of 234Th, that particle export fluxes in the central Arctic would have been higher before July–August in 2007 than later in the season.

Geodynamics of the Arctic: From proterozoic orogens to present day seafloor spreading

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.

Tectonics of the New Siberian Islands archipelago: Structural styles and low-temperature thermochronology

Tectonic evolution of the New Siberian Islands (NSI) has been revealed based on detailed structural investigations and a (U-Th)/He low-temperature thermochronologic study of detrital zircons (ZHe) and apatite (AHe). Our study supports models claiming a non–Siberian affinity of the NSI and furthermore suggests that the study area formed a part of the Arctic-Alaska-Chukotka microcontinent. Seven stages of deformation have been revealed. The earliest stage (Stage 1) involved contractional deformation with transport directions towards the W-to WSW and occurred during the Late Cambrian across the De Long Islands. The next episode of deformation (Stage 2) has been revealed based on the low-temperature thermochronology (ca. 378–414 Ma, ZHe) and structural data. A pre-Frasnian angular unconformity formed as a result of Stage 2 deformation on Kotel’nyi Island, which involved contractional deformation with S-to SW transport directions (modern coordinates) in the mid-Paleozoic. In the latest Early Cretaceous–Late Cretaceous, three deformation stages were initiated by collision between the western part of the Arctic-Alaska-Chukotka microcontinent and Siberia, forming the South Anyui suture zone and overlapping orogenic belt. Stage 3 was characterized by the formation of major NW-trending folds, thrusts, and both transfer dextral and sinistral strike-slip faults with a reverse component. During Stage 4, the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka microcontinent moved westward. On Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, sinistral strike-slip faults were formed, whilst E-W compression took place across the Anjou islands. In Stage 5, the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka microcontinent shifted southward, forming a series of N-S-trending dextral strike-slip faults. The ZHe and AHe ages (ca. 93–125 Ma) suggest that these deformation events were associated with significant uplift in the western part of the NSI (Kotel’nyi and Bel’kovsky islands), whilst the eastern part (De Long Islands) was marginally affected by these events without significant uplift. The Cenozoic extension event (Stage 6) corresponds to the opening of the Eurasian Basin. This stage is manifested by the cooling episode (ca. 53 Ma, Early Eocene, AHe) established in the eastern part of the NSI (Jeannette Island). The origins of the late Cenozoic contractional deformations described from the Cenozoic deposits of the Anjou Islands (Stage 7) are unclear, but were possibly caused by movements along the Eurasian and North-American lithospheric plates.

Rapid Changes in Anthropogenic Carbon Storage and Ocean Acidification in the Intermediate Layers of the Eurasian Arctic Ocean: 1996–2015

The extended multiple linear regression technique is used to determine changes in anthropogenic carbon in the intermediate layers of the Eurasian Basin based on occupations from four cruises between 1996 and 2015. The results show a significant increase in basin‐wide anthropogenic carbon storage in the Nansen Basin (0.44–0.73 ± 0.14 mol C·m−2·year−1) and the Amundsen Basin (0.63–1.04 ± 0.09 mol C·m−2·year−1). Over the last two decades, inferred changes in ocean acidification (0.020–0.055 pH units) and calcium carbonate desaturation (0.05–0.18 units) are pronounced and rapid. These results, together with results from carbonate‐dynamic box model simulations and 129I tracer distribution simulations, suggest that the accumulation of anthropogenic carbon in the intermediate layers of the Eurasian Basin are consistent with increasing concentrations of anthropogenic carbon in source waters of Atlantic origin entering the Arctic Ocean followed by interior transport. The dissimilar distributions of anthropogenic carbon in the interior Nansen and Amundsen Basins are likely due to differences in the lateral ventilation of the intermediate layers by the return flows and ramifications of the boundary current along the topographic boundaries in the Eurasian Basin.

Influence of the bordering shelves on nutrient distribution in the Arctic halocline inferred from water column nitrate isotopes

AbstractThe East Siberian Sea and contiguous western Arctic Ocean basin are characterized by a subsurface nutrient maximum in the halocline, generally attributed to both Pacific inflow and intensive remineralization in shelf bottom waters that are advected into the central basin. We report nitrogen and oxygen isotopic measurement of nitrate from the East Siberian Sea and western Eurasian Basin, in order to gain insight into how nitrate is processed by the microbial community and redistributed in the Arctic Ocean. A large decoupling between nitrate δ15N and δ18O is reported, increasing and decreasing upward from the Atlantic temperature maximum layer toward the surface, respectively. A correlation between water and nitrate δ18O indicates that most of the nitrate (> 60%) at the halocline has been regenerated within the Arctic Ocean. The increase in nitrate δ15N correlates with the fixed N deficit, indicating a causal link between the loss of fixed N and the 15N enrichment. This suggests that a significant share of benthic denitrification is driven by nitrate supplied by remineralization and partial nitrification, allowing residual 15N‐enriched ammonium to diffuse out of the sediments. By increasing nutrient concentrations and fixed N deficit in shelf bottom waters, this imprint is attenuated offshore following advection into the halocline by nitrate regeneration and mixing. Estimation of the sedimentary isotope effect related to benthic denitrification yields values in the range of 2.4–3.8‰, with its magnitude driven by both the degree of coupling between remineralization and nitrification, and fixed N concentrations in shelf bottom waters.

On the Seasonal Cycles Observed at the Continental Slope of the Eastern Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean

AbstractThe Eurasian Basin (EB) of the Arctic Ocean is subject to substantial seasonality. We here use data collected between 2013 and 2015 from six moorings across the continental slope in the eastern EB and identify three domains, each with its own unique seasonal cycle: 1) The upper ocean (<100 m), with seasonal temperature and salinity differences of Δθ = 0.16°C and ΔS = 0.17, is chiefly driven by the seasonal sea ice cycle. 2) The upper-slope domain is characterized by the influence of a hydrographic front that spans the water column around the ~750-m isobath. The domain features a strong temperature and moderate salinity seasonality (Δθ = 1.4°C; ΔS = 0.06), which is traceable down to ~600-m depth. Probable cause of this signal is a combination of along-slope advection of signals by the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current, local wind-driven upwelling, and a cross-slope shift of the front. 3) The lower-slope domain, located offshore of the front, with seasonality in temperature and salinity mainly confined to the halocline (Δθ = 0.83°C; ΔS = 0.11; ~100–200 m). This seasonal cycle can be explained by a vertical isopycnal displacement (ΔZ ~ 36 m), arguably as a baroclinic response to sea level changes. Available long-term oceanographic records indicate a recent amplification of the seasonal cycle within the halocline layer, possibly associated with the erosion of the halocline. This reduces the halocline’s ability to isolate the ocean surface layer and sea ice from the underlying Atlantic Water heat with direct implications for the evolution of Arctic sea ice cover and climate.

Correction to: U–Pb geochronology of Paleoproterozoic gneiss from southeastern Ellesmere Island: implications for displacement estimates on the Wegener fault

The Wegener fault is a sinistral transform in Nares Strait, which lies between Greenland and Ellesmere Island; it connects the opening of the Eurasian Basin with spreading in Baffin Bay after ≈ 56 Ma (magnetic anomaly 24) and before 36 Ma (magnetic anomaly 13). The amount of horizontal slip on the Wegener fault system can be estimated from the offset of the boundary between the Archean Rae craton to the south and Paleoproterozoic gneisses of the Thelon Tectonic Zone to the north. This boundary is best defined in Greenland due to recent U–Pb zircon geochronology, but is less well known on Ellesmere Island. We have dated zircon in five samples of Precambrian granitic to tonalitic gneiss from southeastern Ellesmere Island using secondary ion mass spectrometry. Cathodoluminescence images reveal complex zircons with oscillatory zoning that lack evidence of xenocrystic cores and are commonly overprinted by recrystallization and surrounded by homogeneous rims. Trace-element patterns show the range of disturbance in zircon. The intrusive age is Paleoproterozoic and ranges from 2007 ± 14 to 1958 ± 14 Ma. In one sample, a well-defined lower intercept age of 357 ± 16 Ma on late overgrowths corresponds to a disturbance during the Ellesmerian orogeny. The results enhance the sparse data set of U–Pb ages in southeast Ellesmere Island and corroborate the previous placement of the boundary with Archean gneiss to the south near Devon Island. The boundary is offset by a minimum of 215 km across Nares Strait, corresponding to the minimum offset on the Wegener fault.