Laptev Sea Shelf Research Articles

Assessing the Influence of Water Constituents on the Radiative Heating of Laptev Sea Shelf Waters

The presence of optically active water constituents is known to attenuate the light penetration in the ocean and impact the ocean heat content. Here, we investigate the influence of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and total suspended matter (TSM) on the radiative heating of the Laptev Sea shelf waters. The Laptev Sea region is heavily influenced by the Lena River, one of the largest river systems in the Arctic region. We simulate the radiative heating by using a coupled atmosphere-ocean radiative transfer model (RTM) and \textit{in situ} measurements from the TRANSDRIFT XVII expedition carried out in September 2010. The results indicate that CDOM and TSM have significant influence on the energy budget of the Laptev Sea shelf waters, absorbing most of the solar energy in the first \replaced{two meters}{2 m} of the water column. In the station with the highest CDOM absorption (a\textsubscript{CDOM}(443) = 1.77 m\textsuperscript{-1}) \replaced{$\sim$43}{42.6}\% more energy is absorbed in the surface layer compared to the station with the lowest a\textsubscript{CDOM}(443) ($\sim$0.2 m\textsuperscript{-1}), which translates to an increased \replaced{radiative}{radiant} heating rate of \replaced{$\sim$0.6}{0.57}\textdegree{}C\deleted[remark=]{/day}. The increased absorbed energy by the water constituents also implies in increased sea ice melt rate and changes in the surface heat fluxes to the atmosphere. By \replaced{using}{combining} satellite remote sensing and RTM we \replaced{quantify}{present} the spatial distribution of the radiative heating in the Laptev Sea for a typical summer day. The tools developed here \added[remark=]{(the combined use of satellite remote sensing, RT modeling and \textit{in situ} observations)} and tested in our case study can be used to improve the parameterizations of coupled atmosphere-ocean models to assess the \replaced{role}{feedback} of the ocean \added[remark=]{in the effect of} Arctic \replaced{a}{A}mplification.

Changes in the Paleohydrological Conditions in the Laptev Sea during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Based on a Study of Aquatic Palynomorphs

Aquatic palynomorph assemblages in sediment cores obtained from the western Laptev Sea shelf make it possible to reconstruct the major phases of environmental changes related to the last postglacial global sea level rise for the time since 17.5 ka cal BP. In the time interval of 17.5–13.0 ka cal BP, in the western part of the studied sea, there was a very cold-water basin with a permanent sea ice cover; in 12.3–11.2 ka cal BP, the outer shelf was characterized by higher sedimentation from river runoff in the estuarial environment of the Anabar and Khatanga rivers; and the period of 11.2–7.0 ka cal BP was marked by the enhanced influence of Atlantic water at the continental margin of the Laptev Sea. The conditions close to present day were established in this part of the sea approximately 7.0 ka cal BP.

Numerical estimations of desalinated seawater modification using Laptev sea shelf seawater as the example

A new model for describing the behavior of the isotope (d18О, dD) parameters of desalinated seawater during freezing is proposed. The model was tested using the Laptev Sea shelf waters, which are actively desalinated by the Lena river input and modified by the freezing and ice removing. It is shown that taking into account the modification process leads to the correction of estimates of the fraction of fresh water input up to 20%. A criterion for determination of model availability is proposed.

Modification of Laptev sea freshened shelf waters based on isotope and salinity relations

This paper is dedicated to the estimation of the river runoff contribution to the Arctic shelf waters, where freezing and melting of desalinated waters are intensively proceeding. A mixing-modification model is offered. The model takes into account the sea ice formation from desalinated waters on the shelf. The model was used to explain the data obtained from 63 and 69 cruises of the research vessel “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” (2015 and 2017). Two sources of water masses — the Atlantic waters and the Lena river were established for the studied area of Laptev Sea. The waters in this zone are modified, i.e. they have a higher salinity than the one that corresponds to the two components mixing. The presence of modified waters generated at the Laptev Sea shelf is traced in the continental slope zone. Desalination in the continental slope zone reaches 15–27% and affects depths no more than 20 m, at more than 50 m depths it is practically disappeared. A mixing-modification model was proposed to calculate river water input in the modified waters. The data obtained for the Laptev Sea shelf were used to calculate the fraction of river waters according to both the proposed model and the conventional three-component mixing model of Ostlund and Hut, 1984. A comparison of the estimates obtained by both models has shown that the application of the three-component mixing model to modified waters leads to an overestimation of the river water contribution, which can reach 20%.
 Each sample of shelf waters can be processed using either a mixture-modification model or a three-component mixing model. To choose the appropriate model the special criterion is proposed. Using this criterion, the calculations of river water and melted ice contribution will be free from the unrealistic or negative values.

Numerical Estimations of Desalinated Seawater Modification Using Waters of the Laptev Sea Shelf as an Example

Continental runoff, inflowing to Arctic waters, is estimated by the use of isotope and hydrophysical tracers. This is quite a complicated task, because desalinated waters freeze. The existing model of three-component mixing [1] deals only with the input of melted sea ice, thus limiting its utility in zones where ice is intensely formed. A new mixing-modification model is proposed. The effect of the model is illustrated by data from the Laptev Sea shelf, which is affected by the Lena River runoff. Modification of these waters is manifested by an excessive increase in salinity in relation to the oxygen isotope composition, which is determined by the mixing of waters of the Lena River with waters of the Arctic basin. The model considers the water modification owing to the formation and removal of ice.

A postglacial relative sea-level database for the Russian Arctic coast

We present the first quality-controlled relative sea-level (RSL) database for the Russian Arctic coast from the Barents Sea in the west to Laptev Sea in the east (29–152oE and 63 to 81oN). The database consists of 385 sea-level index points and 249 limiting dates and spans 24 ka to present. Sea-level indicators are derived from multiple proxies, including isolation basins, raised beaches, glacial erratics, marine terraces, laidas (salt marshes), and deltaic salt marshes. Here, we calculate the indicative meanings for all indicators and evaluated possible elevation errors. We have estimated the ages and uncertainties of index points and limiting dates using the most recent calibration datasets.In the western Russian Arctic (Barents and White Seas), RSL was driven by glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) due to deglaciation of the Eurasian ice sheet complex. For example, within the Baltic crystalline shield, RSL fell rapidly from 80 to 100 m at 11–12 ka to 15–25 m at ∼4–5 ka. In the Arctic Islands of Franz-Joseph Land and Novaya Zemlya, RSL gradually fell from 25 to 35 m at 9 ka to 5–10 m at 3 ka. The Timan coast and the Kara Sea shelf are characterized by constant RSL rise due to proglacial forebulge collapse; Yamal and the Gydan Peninsula and Novaya Zemlya are all marked by a high LGM position of RSL, followed by a lowstand and consequent rise to a late Holocene highstand of several meters. Data from the Laptev Sea coasts and shelf and the New Siberian Islands demonstrate post-LGM RSL rise with a Holocene highstand of up to 5–10 m, with scatter caused by differential tectonic movements along a diffuse lithospheric plate boundary. The collected database allowed to estimate and discuss the reasons of both spatial and temporal variability of RSL histories in different parts of the Russian Arctic.

New data on earthquake focal mechanisms in the Laptev Sea region of the Arctic-Asian seismic belt

We consider 16 earthquakes with Mw = 4.2–5.2 that occurred in the south-eastern part of the Laptev Sea shelf, Lena River Delta, and North Verkhoyanye (Russia) in 1990–2014. Focal mechanisms, scalar seismic moments, moment magnitudes, and hypocentral depths of the seismic events have been calculated from the data on amplitude spectra of surface waves and P wave first-motion polarities. The obtained results sufficiently implement the existing dataset on reliable earthquake source parameters for the study region and prove the change of the stress-strain state of the crust from extension on the Laptev Sea shelf to compression on the continent providing finer spatial details of the deformation field in the transition zones such as Buor-Khaya Bay and the Lena River Delta.

Structural Evidence of Recent Activity of the Khatanga–Lomonosov Fault Zone in the Laptev Sea

New structural data obtained by a geophysical survey during Cruise 69 of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in 2017 indicate that the Khatanga−Lomonosov fault zone is presently active and propagating in Khatanga Bay. The orientation of conjugated extension and compression structures points to the sinistral displacement along this zone. The results confirm the concept that this zone represents a transform fault separating Gakkel Ridge from the rift system of the Laptev Sea shelf.

Biogeochemistry and microfossils of the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous, Anabar Bay, Laptev Sea

A detailed analysis of organic matter from the Oxfordian-Lower Valanginian interval of the Nordvik section (Anabar Bay) allows the definition of three geochemical horizons (terpane, diasterene, and hopane), which are characterized by specific geochemical compounds and their ratios. These horizons are correlated with several stages in the evolution of microfossils associated with ecological and geochemical changes in sea paleobasin. Our study shows a good correlation among the variation in many geochemical parameters, the composition of microfossil assemblages, and the transgressive-regressive phases of the paleobasin evolution. Moderately shallow-water facies was reconstructed using micropaleontological, palynological, and lithological data from the upper and lower parts of the section, where the terpane and hopane horizons were identified. Both horizons are characterized by a general dominance of hopanes over other polycyclic biomarkers, the presence of compounds with the biological configuration and organic matter of mixed terrestrial-marine origin, the presence of benzohopanes and retene, an indicator of the conifer resins. This is also reflected in the composition of palynological assemblages, which are dominated by terrestrial palynomorphs, with rare conifer pollen grains. Relatively deep-water facies were identified in the middle part of the section (diasterene horizon). A distinctive geochemical feature of this interval is high relative abundances of diasterenes and 4-methyldiasterenes. The lower subhorizon is characterized by the highest values of the pristane/n-C17 ratio and relatively light δ13C values of noncarbonate carbon. The aromatic fractions have anomalously high concentrations of methyltrimethyltridecylchromans (MTTCs), which are interpreted to be derived mostly from chlorophyll of prasinophytes. The terpenoid distribution is marked by the presence of neohop-13(18)-enes, which probably originated from the activity of methanotrophic bacteria. The above geochemical parameters indicate high photic zone productivity (which is confirmed by the composition of palynological assemblages with abundant dinocysts and prasinophytes) that favored the accumulation of organic matter in dysaerobic conditions, which periodically occurred in the bottom of paleobasin. The alternation of dysaerobic and low-oxic bottom water conditions is easily reconstructed from the analysis of microbenthic communities. The analysis of biogeochemical, micropaleontological, paleontological, and palynological data on the Upper Volgian-lowermost Berriasian organic-rich shales revealed a very good source rock potential for this part of the section, as indicated by relatively high concentrations of organic matter of mixed bacterial-algal genesis and stagnant conditions during deposition and diagenesis. However, this potential was not realized because of the extremely “mild” thermobaric conditions that existed within the Mesozoic strata of the present-day Anabar Bay. At the same time, our results and analysis of the available data allow an optimistic assessment of the hydrocarbon potential of Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous deposits on the Laptev Sea shelf.

Water Mass Classification on a Highly Variable Arctic Shelf Region: Origin of Laptev Sea Water Masses and Implications for the Nutrient Budget

AbstractLarge gradients and inter annual variations on the Laptev Sea shelf prevent the use of uniform property ranges for a classification of major water masses. The central Laptev Sea is dominated by predominantly marine waters, locally formed polynya waters and riverine summer surface waters. Marine waters enter the central Laptev Sea from the northwestern Laptev Sea shelf and originate from the Kara Sea or the Arctic Ocean halocline. Local polynya waters are formed in the Laptev Sea coastal polynyas. Riverine summer surface waters are formed from Lena river discharge and local melt. We use a principal component analysis (PCA) in order to assess the distribution and importance of water masses within the Laptev Sea. This mathematical method is applied to hydro‐chemical summer data sets from the Laptev Sea from five years and allows to define water types based on objective and statistically significant criteria. We argue that the PCA‐derived water types are consistent with the Laptev Sea hydrography and indeed represent the major water masses on the central Laptev Sea shelf. Budgets estimated for the thus defined major Laptev Sea water masses indicate that freshwater inflow from the western Laptev Sea is about half or in the same order of magnitude as freshwater stored in locally formed polynya waters. Imported water dominates the nutrient budget in the central Laptev Sea; and only in years with enhanced local polynya activity is the nutrient budget of the locally formed water in the same order as imported nutrients.

Bounding cross-shelf transport time and degradation in Siberian-Arctic land-ocean carbon transfer

The burial of terrestrial organic carbon (terrOC) in marine sediments contributes to the regulation of atmospheric CO2 on geological timescales and may mitigate positive feedback to present-day climate warming. However, the fate of terrOC in marine settings is debated, with uncertainties regarding its degradation during transport. Here, we employ compound-specific radiocarbon analyses of terrestrial biomarkers to determine cross-shelf transport times. For the World’s largest marginal sea, the East Siberian Arctic shelf, transport requires 3600 ± 300 years for the 600 km from the Lena River to the Laptev Sea shelf edge. TerrOC was reduced by ~85% during transit resulting in a degradation rate constant of 2.4 ± 0.6 kyr−1. Hence, terrOC degradation during cross-shelf transport constitutes a carbon source to the atmosphere over millennial time. For the contemporary carbon cycle on the other hand, slow terrOC degradation brings considerable attenuation of the decadal-centennial permafrost carbon-climate feedback caused by global warming.

Carbon mineralization in Laptev and East Siberian sea shelf and slope sediment

Abstract. The Siberian Arctic Sea shelf and slope is a key region for the degradation of terrestrial organic material transported from the organic-carbon-rich permafrost regions of Siberia. We report on sediment carbon mineralization rates based on O2 microelectrode profiling; intact sediment core incubations; 35S-sulfate tracer experiments; pore-water dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC); δ13CDIC; and iron, manganese, and ammonium concentrations from 20 shelf and slope stations. This data set provides a spatial overview of sediment carbon mineralization rates and pathways over large parts of the outer Laptev and East Siberian Arctic shelf and slope and allows us to assess degradation rates and efficiency of carbon burial in these sediments. Rates of oxygen uptake and iron and manganese reduction were comparable to temperate shelf and slope environments, but bacterial sulfate reduction rates were comparatively low. In the topmost 50 cm of sediment, aerobic carbon mineralization dominated degradation and comprised on average 84 % of the depth-integrated carbon mineralization. Oxygen uptake rates and anaerobic carbon mineralization rates were higher in the eastern East Siberian Sea shelf compared to the Laptev Sea shelf. DIC ∕ NH4+ ratios in pore waters and the stable carbon isotope composition of remineralized DIC indicated that the degraded organic matter on the Siberian shelf and slope was a mixture of marine and terrestrial organic matter. Based on dual end-member calculations, the terrestrial organic carbon contribution varied between 32 and 36 %, with a higher contribution in the Laptev Sea than in the East Siberian Sea. Extrapolation of the measured degradation rates using isotope end-member apportionment over the outer shelf of the Laptev and East Siberian seas suggests that about 16 Tg C yr−1 is respired in the outer shelf seafloor sediment. Of the organic matter buried below the oxygen penetration depth, between 0.6 and 1.3 Tg C yr−1 is degraded by anaerobic processes, with a terrestrial organic carbon contribution ranging between 0.3 and 0.5 Tg yr−1.

High colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorption in surface waters of the central-eastern Arctic Ocean: Implications for biogeochemistry and ocean color algorithms.

As consequences of global warming sea-ice shrinking, permafrost thawing and changes in fresh water and terrestrial material export have already been reported in the Arctic environment. These processes impact light penetration and primary production. To reach a better understanding of the current status and to provide accurate forecasts Arctic biogeochemical and physical parameters need to be extensively monitored. In this sense, bio-optical properties are useful to be measured due to the applicability of optical instrumentation to autonomous platforms, including satellites. This study characterizes the non-water absorbers and their coupling to hydrographic conditions in the poorly sampled surface waters of the central and eastern Arctic Ocean. Over the entire sampled area colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) dominates the light absorption in surface waters. The distribution of CDOM, phytoplankton and non-algal particles absorption reproduces the hydrographic variability in this region of the Arctic Ocean which suggests a subdivision into five major bio-optical provinces: Laptev Sea Shelf, Laptev Sea, Central Arctic/Transpolar Drift, Beaufort Gyre and Eurasian/Nansen Basin. Evaluating ocean color algorithms commonly applied in the Arctic Ocean shows that global and regionally tuned empirical algorithms provide poor chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) estimates. The semi-analytical algorithms Generalized Inherent Optical Property model (GIOP) and Garver-Siegel-Maritorena (GSM), on the other hand, provide robust estimates of Chl-a and absorption of colored matter. Applying GSM with modifications proposed for the western Arctic Ocean produced reliable information on the absorption by colored matter, and specifically by CDOM. These findings highlight that only semi-analytical ocean color algorithms are able to identify with low uncertainty the distribution of the different optical water constituents in these high CDOM absorbing waters. In addition, a clustering of the Arctic Ocean into bio-optical provinces will help to develop and then select province-specific ocean color algorithms.

Isotope (δD, δ18О) systematics in waters of the Russian Arctic seas

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope analysis was performed to study the processes of distribution of water masses and modification of their salinity in the Russian Arctic seas. A wealth of new isotopic data was obtained for freshwater (river runoff, Novaya Zemlya glaciers) and seawater samples collected along a set of extended 2D profiles in the Barents, Kara, and Laptev Seas. The study presents the first δD values measured for the Northeast Atlantic Deep Water NEADW dominated the water column of the Barents Sea (S = 34.90 ± 0.05, δD = +1.55 ± 0.4‰, δ18O = +0.26 ± 0.1‰, n = 44). This water mass is present in the Kara Sea and western Laptev Sea. The relationship between δD, δ18О, and salinity data was used to calculate the fractions of waters of different origin, including the fractions of continental runoff in waters of the Barents, Kara, and Laptev Seas. It was shown that the relationships between the isotopic parameters (δD, δ18О) and salinity in waters of the Kara and Laptev Seas is controlled by the intensity of continental runoff and sea ice processes. Sea ice formation is the main factor controlling the formation of the water column on the Laptev Sea shelf, whereas the surface waters of the middle Kara Sea are dominated by the contribution of river runoff. A very strong stratification in the Kara Sea is caused by the presence of a relatively fresh surface layer mostly contributed by estuarine water inputs from the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. The contribution of river waters reaches 40–60% in the surface layer in the central part of the sea and decreases to a few percent down 100 m water depth. Stratification in the western part of the Laptev Sea is controlled by the contribution of freshwater input from the Lena River and modification of salinity by sea ice formation.

Nitrogen dynamic in Eurasian coastal Arctic ecosystem: Insight from nitrogen isotope

AbstractPrimary productivity is limited by the availability of nitrogen (N) in most of the coastal Arctic, as a large portion of N is released by the spring freshet and completely consumed during the following summer. Thus, understanding the fate of riverine nitrogen is critical to identify the link between dissolved nitrogen dynamic and coastal primary productivity to foresee upcoming changes in the Arctic seas, such as increase riverine discharge and permafrost thaw. Here we provide a field‐based study of nitrogen dynamic over the Laptev Sea shelf based on isotope geochemistry. We demonstrate that while most of the nitrate found under the surface freshwater layer is of remineralized origin, some of the nitrate originates from atmospheric input and was probably transported at depth by the mixing of brine‐enriched denser water during sea ice formation. Moreover, our results suggest that riverine dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) represents up to 6 times the total riverine release of nitrate and that about 62 to 76% of the DON is removed within the shelf waters. This is a crucial information regarding the near‐future impact of climate change on primary productivity in the Eurasian coastal Arctic.

Sediment entrainment into sea ice and transport in the Transpolar Drift: A case study from the Laptev Sea in winter 2011/2012

Sea ice is an important vehicle for sediment transport in the Arctic Ocean. On the Laptev Sea shelf (Siberian Arctic) large volumes of sediment-laden sea ice are formed during freeze-up in autumn, then exported and transported across the Arctic Ocean into Fram Strait where it partly melts. The incorporated sediments are released, settle on the sea floor, and serve as a proxy for ice-transport in the Arctic Ocean on geological time scales. However, the formation process of sediment-laden ice in the source area has been scarcely observed.Sediment-laden ice was sampled during a helicopter-based expedition to the Laptev Sea in March/April 2012. Sedimentological, biogeochemical and biological studies on the ice core as well as in the water column give insights into the formation process and, in combination with oceanographic process studies, on matter fluxes beneath the sea ice. Based on satellite images and ice drift back-trajectories the sediments were likely incorporated into the sea ice during a mid-winter coastal polynya near one of the main outlets of the Lena River, which is supported by the presence of abundant freshwater diatoms typical for the Lena River phytoplankton, and subsequently transported about 80km northwards onto the shelf. Assuming ice growth of 12–19cm during this period and mean suspended matter content in the newly formed ice of 91.9mgl−1 suggests that a minimum sediment load of 8.4×104t might have been incorporated into sea ice. Extrapolating these sediment loads for the entire Lena Delta region suggests that at least 65% of the estimated sediment loads which are incorporated during freeze-up, and up to 10% of the annually exported sediment load may be incorporated during an event such as described in this paper.

Yedoma Ice Complex of the Buor Khaya Peninsula (southern Laptev Sea)

Abstract. The composition of perennially frozen deposits holds information on the palaeo-environment during and following deposition. In this study, we investigate late Pleistocene permafrost at the western coast of the Buor Khaya Peninsula in the south-central Laptev Sea (Siberia), namely the prominent eastern Siberian Yedoma Ice Complex (IC). Two Yedoma IC exposures and one drill core were studied for cryolithological (i.e. ice and sediment features), geochemical, and geochronological parameters. Borehole temperatures were measured for 3 years to capture the current thermal state of permafrost. The studied sequences were composed of ice-oversaturated silts and fine-grained sands with considerable amounts of organic matter (0.2 to 24 wt %). Syngenetic ice wedges intersect the frozen deposits. The deposition of the Yedoma IC, as revealed by radiocarbon dates of sedimentary organic matter, took place between 54.1 and 30.1 kyr BP. Continued Yedoma IC deposition until about 14.7 kyr BP is shown by dates from organic matter preserved in ice-wedge ice. For the lowermost and oldest Yedoma IC part, infrared-stimulated luminescence dates on feldspar show deposition ages between 51.1 ± 4.9 and 44.2 ± 3.6 kyr BP. End-member modelling was applied to grain-size-distribution data to determined sedimentation processes during Yedoma IC formation. Three to five robust end-members were detected within Yedoma IC deposits, which we interpret as different modes of primary and reworked unconfined alluvial slope and fan deposition as well as of localized eolian and fluvial sediment, which is overprinted by in situ frost weathering. The cryolithological inventory of the Yedoma IC preserved on the Buor Khaya Peninsula is closely related to the results of other IC studies, for example, to the west on the Bykovsky Peninsula, where formation time (mainly during the late Pleistocene marine isotope stages (MIS) 3 interstadial) and formation conditions were similar. Local freezing conditions on Buor Khaya, however, differed and created solute-enriched (salty) and isotopically light pore water pointing to a small talik layer and thaw-bulb freezing after deposition. Due to intense coastal erosion, the biogeochemical signature of the studied Yedoma IC represents the terrestrial end-member, and is closely related to organic matter currently being deposited in the marine realm of the Laptev Sea shelf.

GEODYNAMIC ACTIVITY OF MODERN STRUCTURES AND TECTONIC STRESS FIELDS IN NORTHEAST ASIA

Based on the analysis of changes in the stress-strain state of the crust at the boundary of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, we develop a dynamic model of the main seismogenerating structures inNortheast Asia. We have established a regularity in changes of geodynamic regimes within the interplate boundary between the Kolyma-Chukotka crustal plate and the Eurasian, North American and Pacific tectonic plates: spreading in the Gakkel Ridge area; rifting in the Laptev Sea shelf; a mixture of tectonic stress types in the Kharaulakh segment; transpression in the Chersky seismotectonic zone, in the segment from the Komandor to the Aleutian Islands, and in the Koryak segment; and crustal stretching in the Chukotka segment.

The fate of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon on the Eurasian shelves and export to the North Atlantic

AbstractDissolved lignin phenols, chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorption, and fluorescence were analyzed along cross‐slope mooring locations in the Barents, Laptev, and East Siberian Seas to gain a better understanding of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon (tDOC) dynamics in Arctic shelf seas and the Arctic Ocean. A gradient of river water and tDOC was observed along the continental shelf eastward into the East Siberian Sea. Correlations of carbon‐normalized yields of lignin‐derived phenols supplied by Siberian rivers with river water fractions and known water residence times yielded in situ decay constants of 0.18–0.58 yr−1. Calculations showed ∼50% of annual tDOC discharged by Siberian rivers was mineralized in estuaries and on Eurasian shelves per year indicating extensive removal of tDOC. Bioassay experiments and in situ decay constants indicated a reactivity continuum for tDOC. CDOM parameters and acid/aldehyde ratios of vanillyl (V) and syringyl (S) lignin phenols showed biomineralization was the dominant mechanism for the removal of tDOC. Characteristic ratios of p‐hydroxy (P), S, and V phenols (P/V, S/V) also identified shelf regions in the Kara Sea and regions along the Western Laptev Sea shelf where formation of Low Salinity Halocline Waters (LSHW) and Lower Halocline Water (LHW) occurred. The efficient removal of tDOC demonstrates the importance of Eurasian margins as sinks of tDOC derived from the large Siberian Rivers and confirms tDOC mineralization has a major impact on nutrients budgets, air‐sea CO2 exchange, and acidification in the Siberian Shelf Seas.

Sea‐ice retreat controls timing of summer plankton blooms in the Eastern Arctic Ocean

AbstractTwo full‐year mooring records of sea‐ice, physical, and bio‐optical parameters illuminate tight temporal coupling between the retreating seasonal ice edge and the summer phytoplankton bloom on the Laptev Sea shelf. Our records showed no sign of pelagic under‐ice blooms despite available nutrients and thinning sea ice in early summer, presumably because stratification had not yet developed. Chlorophyll blooms were detected immediately after the ice retreated in late May 2014 and late July 2015. Despite radically different timing, the blooms were similar in both magnitude and length, interpreted as community‐level nutrient limitation. Acoustic backscatter records suggest the delayed 2015 bloom resulted in lower zooplankton abundance, perhaps due to a timing mismatch between ice algal and pelagic blooms and unfavorable thermal conditions. Our observations provide classical examples of ice‐edge blooms and further emphasize the complexity of high‐latitude shelves and the need to understand vertical mixing processes important for stratification and nutrient fluxes.