ALBERT

Description: Coastal-water hypoxia is increasing globally due to global warming and urbanization, and the need to define management solutions to improve the water quality of coastal ecosystems has become important. The lower tidal Garonne River (TGR; southwestern France), characterized by the seasonal presence of a turbidity maximum zone (TMZ) and urban water discharge, is subject to episodic hypoxia events during low river flow periods in the summer. Future climatic conditions (higher temperature and summer droughts) and increasing urbanization could enhance hypoxia risks near the city of Bordeaux in the coming decades. A 3-D model of dissolved oxygen (DO) that couples hydrodynamics, sediment transport and biogeochemical processes was used to assess the efficiency of different management solutions for oxygenation of the TGR during summer low-discharge periods. We ran different scenarios of reductions in urban sewage overflows, displacement of urban discharges downstream from Bordeaux and/or temporary river flow support during the summer period. The model shows that each option mitigates hypoxia, but with variable efficiency over time and space. Sewage overflow reduction improves DO levels only locally near the city of Bordeaux. Downstream relocation of wastewater discharges allows for better oxygenation levels in the lower TGR. The support of low river flow limits the upstream TMZ propagation and dilutes the TGR water with well-oxygenated river water. Scenarios combining wastewater network management and low-water replenishment indicate an improvement in water quality over the entire TGR. These modelling outcomes constitute important tools for local water authorities to develop the most appropriate strategies to limit hypoxia in the TGR.Highlights. A 3-D model shows different efficiencies of management actions to limit hypoxia. Downstream relocation of wastewater discharge totally mitigates hypoxia. Sewage overflow reduction improves DO levels but only locally. Water replenishment improves DO in the upper estuary.

Description: The Green Edge initiative was developed to investigate the processes controlling the primary productivity and the fate of organic matter produced during the Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom (PSB) and to determine its role in the ecosystem. Two field campaigns were conducted in 2015 and 2016 at an ice camp located on landfast sea ice southeast of Qikiqtarjuaq Island in Baffin Bay (67.4797N, 63.7895W). During both expeditions, a large suite of physical, chemical and biological variables was measured beneath a consolidated sea ice cover from the surface to the bottom at 360 m depth to better understand the factors driving the PSB. Key variables such as temperature, salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll-a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured at the ice camp. Here, we present the results of a joint effort to tidy and standardize the collected data sets that will facilitate their reuse in other Arctic studies. The dataset is available at http://www.seanoe.org/data/00487/59892/ (Massicotte et al., 2019a).

Description: Diatoms account for a large proportion of primary productivity in Antarctic coastal and continental shelf zones. Diatoms, which have been used for a long time to infer past sea surface conditions in the Southern Ocean, have recently been associated with diatom-specific biomarkers (highly branched isoprenoids, HBI). Our study is one of the few sedimentary research projects on diatom ecology and associated biomarkers in the Antarctic seasonal sea ice zone. To date, the Adélie Land region has received little attention, despite evidence for the presence of high accumulation of laminated sediment, allowing for finer climate reconstructions and sedimentary process studies. Here we provide a sequence of seasonally to annually laminated diatomaceous sediment from a 72.5 cm interface core retrieved on the continental shelf off Adélie Land, covering the 1970–2010 CE period. Investigations through statistical analyses of diatom communities, diatom-specific biomarkers and major element abundances document the relationships between these proxies at an unprecedented resolution. Additionally, comparison of sedimentary records to meteorological data monitored by automatic weather station and satellite derived sea ice concentrations help to refine the relationships between our proxies and environmental conditions over the last decades. Our results suggest a coupled interaction of the atmospheric and sea surface variability on sea ice seasonality, which acts as the proximal forcing of siliceous productivity at that scale.

Description: The mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased over the past two decades. Marine-terminating glaciers contribute significantly to this mass loss due to increased melting and ice discharge. Rapid retreat periods of these tidewater glaciers have been linked to the concurrent inflow of warm, Atlantic derived waters. However, little is known about the variability of Atlantic-derived waters within these fjords, due to a lack of multi-annual, in situ measurements. Thus, to better understand the potential role of ocean warming on glacier retreat, reconstructions that characterize the variability of Atlantic water inflow to these fjords are required. Here, we investigate foraminiferal assemblages in a sediment core from Upernavik Fjord, West Greenland, in which the major ice stream Upernavik Isstrøm terminates. We investigate the environmental characteristics that control species diversity and derive that it is predominantly controlled by changes in bottom water variability. Hence, we provide a reconstruction of Atlantic water inflow to Upernavik Fjord, spanning the period 1925–2012. This reconstruction reveals peak Atlantic water inflow during the 1930s and again after 2000, a pattern that is similar to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). We compare these results to historical observations of front positions of Upernavik Isstrøm. This reveals that inflow of warm, Atlantic-derived waters indeed likely contributed to high retreat rates in the 1930s and after 2000. However, moderate retreat rates of Upernavik Isstrøm also prevailed in the 1960s/1970s, showing that retreat continued despite reduced Atlantic water inflow, albeit at a lower rate. Considering the link between bottom water variability and the AMO in Upernavik Fjord and the fact that a persistent negative phase of the AMO is expected for the next decade, Atlantic water inflow into the fjord may decrease in the next ~ 10 years.

Description: In view of future coastal hypoxia widespreading, it is essential to define management solutions to preserve a good quality of coastal ecosystems. The lower Tidal Garonne River (TGR, SW France), characterized by the seasonal presence of a turbidity maximum zone and urban water discharges, is subject to episodic hypoxia events during summer low river flow periods. The future climatic conditions (higher temperature; summer droughts) but also an increasing urbanization could enhance hypoxia risks near the city of Bordeaux in the next decades. A 3D model of dissolved oxygen (DO), which couples hydrodynamics, sediment transport and biogeochemical processes, is used to assess the efficiency of different management solutions on TGR oxygenation during summer low-discharge periods. We have runned different scenarios of reduction of urban sewage overflows, displacement of urban discharges downstream from Bordeaux, and/or temporary river flow support during summer period. The model shows that each option limits hypoxia, but with variable efficiency over time and space. Sewage overflow reduction improves DO levels only locally near the city of Bordeaux. Downstream relocation of wastewater discharges allows to reach better oxygenation level in the lower TGR. The support of low river flow limits the upstream TMZ propagation and dilutes TGR waters with well-oxygenated river waters. Scenarios combining wastewater network management and low water replenishment indicate an improvement in water quality over the entire TGR. These modelling outcomes constitute important tools for local water authorities to develop the most appropriate strategies to limit hypoxia in TGR.

Description: A radiocarbon dated marine sediment core retrieved in Kane Basin, central Nares Strait, was analysed to constrain the timing of the postglacial opening of this Arctic gateway and its Holocene evolution. This study is based on a set of sedimentological and geochemical proxies of changing sedimentary processes and sources that translate into ice sheet configuration in the strait. Proglacial marine sedimentation at the core site initiated ca. 9.0 cal. ka BP following the retreat of grounded ice. Unstable sea surface conditions subsisted until 7.5cal.kaBP under the combined influence of warm atmospheric temperatures and proglacial cooling induced by the nearby Innuitian (IIS) and Greenland (GIS) ice sheets. The collapse of the ice saddle in Kennedy Channel at 8.3 cal. ka BP marks the complete opening of Nares Strait and the initial connection between the Lincoln Sea and northernmost Baffin Bay. Delivery of sediment by icebergs was strengthened between 8.3 and 7.5cal.kaBP following the collapse of the buttress of glacial ice in Kennedy Channel that triggered the acceleration of GIS and IIS fluxes toward Nares Strait. The destabilisation in glacial ice eventually led to the rapid retreat of the GIS in eastern Kane Basin at 8.1cal.kaBP as evidenced by a noticeable change in sediment source in our core. The gradual decrease of carbonate inputs to Kane Basin between 8.1 and 4.1cal.kaBP reflects the late deglaciation of Washington Land. The shoaling of Kane Basin can be observed in our record by the increased winnowing of lighter particles as the glacio-isostatic rebound brought the seabed closer to subsurface currents. Our dataset suggests reduced iceberg delivery from 7.5 to 1.9cal.kaBP in relation to the Neoglacial cooling that likely enhanced sea ice occurrence, thus suppressing calving and/or the drifting of icebergs in Nares Strait.

Description: A radiocarbon-dated marine sediment core retrieved in Kane Basin, central Nares Strait, was analysed to constrain the timing of the postglacial opening of this Arctic gateway and its Holocene evolution. This study is based on a set of sedimentological and geochemical proxies of changing sedimentary processes and sources that provide new insight into the evolution of ice sheet configuration in Nares Strait. Proglacial marine sedimentation at the core site initiated ca. 9.0 cal ka BP following the retreat of grounded ice. Varying contributions of sand and clasts suggest unstable sea ice conditions and glacial activity, which subsisted until ca. 7.5 cal ka BP under the combined influence of warm atmospheric temperatures and proglacial cooling induced by the nearby Innuitian (IIS) and Greenland (GIS) ice sheets. An interval rich in ice-rafted debris (IRD) is interpreted as the collapse of the ice saddle in Kennedy Channel ca. 8.3 cal ka BP that marks the complete opening of Nares Strait and the initial connection between the Lincoln Sea and northernmost Baffin Bay. Delivery of sediment by icebergs was strengthened between ca. 8.3 and ca. 7.5 cal ka BP following the collapse of the buttress of glacial ice in Kennedy Channel that triggered the acceleration of GIS and IIS fluxes toward Nares Strait. The destabilisation in glacial ice eventually led to the rapid retreat of the GIS in eastern Kane Basin at about 8.1 cal ka BP as evidenced by a noticeable change in sediment geochemistry in our core. The gradual decrease in carbonate inputs to Kane Basin between ∼8.1 and ∼4.1 cal ka BP reflects the late deglaciation of Washington Land. The shoaling of Kane Basin can be observed in our record by the increased winnowing of lighter particles as the glacio-isostatic rebound brought the seabed closer to subsurface currents. Reduced iceberg delivery from 7.5 to 1.9 cal ka BP inferred by our dataset may be linked to the retreat of the bordering ice sheets on land that decreased their number of marine termini.

Description: The mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased over the past 2 decades. Marine-terminating glaciers contribute significantly to this mass loss due to increased melting and ice discharge. Periods of rapid retreat of these tidewater glaciers have been linked to the concurrent inflow of warm Atlantic-sourced waters. However, little is known about the variability of these Atlantic-derived waters within the fjords, due to a lack of multi-annual in situ measurements. Thus, to better understand the potential role of ocean warming on glacier retreat, reconstructions that characterize the variability of Atlantic water inflow to the fjords are required. Here, we investigate foraminiferal assemblages in a sediment core from Upernavik Fjord, West Greenland, in which the major ice stream Upernavik Isstrøm terminates. We conclude that the foraminiferal assemblage is predominantly controlled by changes in bottom water composition and provide a reconstruction of Atlantic water inflow to Upernavik Fjord, spanning the period 1925–2012. This reconstruction reveals peak Atlantic water influx during the 1930s and again after 2000, a pattern that is comparable to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). The comparison of these results to historical observations of front positions of Upernavik Isstrøm reveals that inflow of warm Atlantic-derived waters likely contributed to high retreat rates in the 1930s and after 2000. However, moderate retreat rates of Upernavik Isstrøm also prevailed in the 1960s and 1970s, showing that glacier retreat continued despite a reduced Atlantic water inflow, albeit at a lower rate. Considering the link between bottom water variability and the AMO in Upernavik Fjord, and the fact that a persistent negative phase of the AMO is expected for the next decade, Atlantic water inflow into the fjord may decrease in the coming decade, potentially minimizing or stabilizing the retreat of Upernavik Isstrøm during this time interval.

Description: The mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased over the past two decades. Marine-terminating glaciers contribute significantly to this mass loss due to increased melting and ice discharge. Rapid retreat periods of these tidewater glaciers have been linked to the concurrent inflow of warm, Atlantic derived waters. However, little is known about the 15 variability of Atlantic-derived waters within these fjords, due to a lack of multi-annual, in situ measurements. Thus, to better understand the potential role of ocean warming on glacier retreat, reconstructions that characterize the variability of Atlantic water inflow to these fjords are required. Here, we investigate foraminiferal assemblages in a sediment core from Upernavik Fjord, West Greenland, in which the major ice stream Upernavik Isstrøm terminates. We investigate the environmental characteristics that control species diversity and derive that it is predominantly controlled by changes in bottom water 20 variability. Hence, we provide a reconstruction of Atlantic water inflow to Upernavik Fjord, spanning the period 1925-2012. This reconstruction reveals peak Atlantic water inflow during the 1930s and again after 2000, a pattern that is similar to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). We compare these results to historical observations of front positions of Upernavik Isstrøm. This reveals that inflow of warm, Atlantic-derived waters indeed likely contributed to high retreat rates in the 1930s and after 2000. However, moderate retreat rates of Upernavik Isstrøm also prevailed in the 1960s/1970s, showing that retreat 25 continued despite reduced Atlantic water inflow, albeit at a lower rate. Considering the link between bottom water variability and the AMO in Upernavik Fjord and the fact that a persistent negative phase of the AMO is expected for the next decade, Atlantic water inflow into the fjord may decrease in the next ~10 years.