New insights on ocean circulation and the fate of organic carbon in the Arctic Ocean (NOC) (39653)

Two defining characteristics of the Arctic Ocean are the strong salinity stratification and the high concentration of terrestrial organic matter in surface waters. Water bodies formed during coastal sea ice formation serve to maintain this layered structure across the basin.

We have developed techniques to trace terrestrial organic matter in the ocean and hypothesize that combining these methods with radioisotopes will enable the use of organic matter as an indicator of water mass origin and for tracing the flow of carbon in the Arctic from land to the world’s oceans.

We will also investigate how organic matter can persist and resist photochemical and microbial degradation during its transit through the Arctic to the North Atlantic.

This project will provide the mechanistic descriptions required to quantify the impacts on carbon budgets and offer new tracers for following and understanding changes in Arctic Ocean circulation.

Partners
National Institute of Aquatic Resources, DTU Aqua, (coordinator)
Department of Environmental Engineering, DTU Environment
Aarhus University, Denmark
Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway
North Carolina State University, USA
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, USA  

Funding
The project is funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark | Natural Sciences.

Research area: Oceanography