ALBERT

Description: This study explores a link between the long-term variations in the integral sea ice volume (SIV) in the Greenland Sea and oceanic processes. Using the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS, 1979–2016), we show that the increasing sea ice volume flux through Fram Strait goes in parallel with a decrease in SIV in the Greenland Sea. The overall SIV loss in the Greenland Sea is 113 km3 per decade, while the total SIV import through Fram Strait increases by 115 km3 per decade. An analysis of the ocean temperature and the mixed-layer depth (MLD) over the climatic mean area of the winter marginal sea ice zone (MIZ) revealed a doubling of the amount of the upper-ocean heat content available for the sea ice melt from 1993 to 2016. This increase alone can explain the SIV loss in the Greenland Sea over the 24-year study period, even when accounting for the increasing SIV flux from the Arctic. The increase in the oceanic heat content is found to be linked to an increase in temperature of the Atlantic Water along the main currents of the Nordic Seas, following an increase in the oceanic heat flux from the subtropical North Atlantic. We argue that the predominantly positive winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index during the 4 most recent decades, together with an intensification of the deep convection in the Greenland Sea, is responsible for the intensification of the cyclonic circulation pattern in the Nordic Seas, which results in the observed long-term variations in the SIV.

Description: This study explores a link between the long-term variations in the integral sea ice volume (SIV) in the Greenland Sea and oceanic processes. Using Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modelling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS, 1979–2016), we show that the negative tendencies in SIV go in parallel with the increasing ice flux through the Fram Strait. The overall SIV loss in the Greenland Sea comprises 113 km3 per decade, while the total SIV import through the Fram strait is increasing by 115 km3 per decade. An analysis of the ocean temperature and the mixed layer depth (MLD) in the marginal sea ice zone (MIZ), based on ARMOR data-set (1993–2016), revealed doubling of the amount of the upper ocean heat content available for the ice melt in the MIZ. This increase over the 24-year period can solely explain the SIV loss in the Greenland Sea, even when accounting for the increasing SIV flux from the Arctic. The increase in the ocean heat content is found to be linked to an increase in the temperature of the Atlantic water in the Nordic seas, following an increase of ocean heat flux form the subtropical North Atlantic. We argue that the predominantly positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index during the four recent decades, together with the intensification of the deep convection in the Greenland Sea, are responsible for the overall intensification of the circulation in the Nordic seas, which explains the observed long-term variations of the SIV.

Description: Nearly half the inflow of warm and saline Atlantic Water (AW) to the Arctic Ocean is substantially cooled and freshened in the Barents Sea, which is therefore considered a key region for water mass transformation in the Arctic Mediterranean. Numerous studies have focused on this transformation and the increasing influence of AW on Arctic climate and biodiversity, yet geochemical investigations of these processes have been scarce. Using the first comprehensive data set of the distributions of dissolved radiogenic neodymium (Nd) isotopes (expressed as ɛNd), rare earth elements (REE) and stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) compositions from this region we are able to constrain the transport and transformation of AW in the Barents Sea and to investigate which processes change the chemical composition of the water masses beyond what is expected from circulation and mixing. Inflowing AW and Norwegian Coastal Water (NCW) both exhibit distinctly unradiogenic ɛNd signatures of -12.4 and -14.5, respectively, whereas cold and dense Polar Water (PW) has considerably more radiogenic ɛNd signatures reaching up to -8.1. Locally formed Barents Sea Atlantic Water (BSAW) and Barents Sea Arctic Atlantic Water (BSAAW) are encountered in the northeastern Barents Sea and have intermediate ɛNd values resulting from admixture of PW containing small amounts of riverine freshwater from the Ob (〈 ~1.1 %) to AW and NCW. Similar to the Laptev Sea, the dissolved Nd isotope composition in the Barents Sea seems to be mainly controlled by water mass advection and mixing despite its shallow water depth. Strikingly, the BSAW and BSAAW are marked by the lowest REE concentrations reaching 11 pmol/kg for Nd ([Nd]), which in contrast to the Nd isotopes, cannot be attributed to the admixture of REE-rich Ob freshwater to AW or NCW ([Nd] = 16.7, and 22 pmol/kg, respectively) and instead reflects REE removal from the dissolved phase with preferential removal of the light over the heavy REEs. The REE removal is, however, not explainable by estuarine REE behavior alone, suggesting that scavenging by (re)suspended (biogenic) particles occurs locally in the Barents Sea. Regardless of the exact cause of REE depletion, we show that AW transformation is accompanied by geochemical changes independent of water mass mixing.

Description: This is the nutrient data (silicate and phosphate) measured on water bottle samples during PU2014 to the Barents Sea following standard procedures (Grasshoff et al., 2009).