The Organic Carbon Cycle in the Arctic Ocean

377 Pages·2004·18.46 MB·English

by  M. Jakobsson, A. Grantz, Y. Kristoffersen (auth.), Professor Dr. Ruediger Stein, Dr. Robie W. MacDonald (eds.)

R.Stein,R.W.Macdonald
The Organic Carbon Cycle in the Arctic Ocean
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
Ruediger Stein · Robie W.Macdonald (Eds.)
The
Organic Carbon Cycle
in the
Arctic Ocean
With 194 Figures,22 in colour,and 62 Tables
123
Editors
Professor Dr.Ruediger Stein
Institute for Polar and Marine Research
27568 Bremerhaven
Germany
Email:[email protected]
Dr.Robie W.Macdonald
Institute ofOcean Sciences
Sidney B.C.V8L 4B2
Canada
Email:[email protected]
Cover photo (Research Icebreaker “Polarstern”):H.Grobe,AWI Bremerhaven
ISBN 978-3-642-62351-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The organic carbon cycle in the Arctic Ocean / Ruediger Stein,Robie W.Macdonald (eds.).
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1.Chemical oceanography.2.Carbon cycle (Biogeochemistry) 3.
Biogeochemistry--Arctic Ocean. I.Stein,Ruediger.II.MacDonald,Robin W.,1931-
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Preface
The flux,preservation,and accumulation oforganic carbon in marine
systems are controlled by various mechanisms including primary pro-
duction ofthe surface water,supply ofterrigenous organic matter from
the surrounding continents, biogeochemical processes in the water
column and at the seafloor, and sedimentation rate. For the world’s
oceans,phytoplankton productivity is by far the largest organic carbon
source,estimated to be about 30 to 50 Gt (109tonnes) per year (Berger
et al.1989; Hedges and Keil 1995).By comparison,rivers contribute
about 0.15 to 0.23 Gt y–1of particulate organic carbon (Ittekkot 1988;
Hedges et al.1997).On average,only about 0.1–0.2 Gt y–1ofthe organic
carbon supplied to the world’s oceans has been buried in Holocene
sediments, with perhaps 85–90% of that being deposited in deltaic,
shelf and upper slope sediments (Romankevich 1984; Berner 1989;
Hedges and Keil 1995).To refine the global ocean carbon budget in
general and,specifically,to quantify organic carbon burial because it is
so important for climatic change,we need detailed measurements of
the organic carbon flux in all ocean environments,especially for con-
tinental margins (e.g.,Liu et al.,2000).With the notable exception of
the Arctic Ocean,data have been available for some time on organic
carbon sources, pathways and burial in a variety of ocean environ-
ments.Even though the Arctic Ocean is (1) surrounded by the world’s
largest shelf seas,(2) influenced by large river (organic matter) dis-
charge, (3) highly sensitive to climate change and (4) an important
feedback component of the global climate system, a comprehensive
compilation of data on processes controlling organic carbon flux,
accumulation, and its temporal and spatial variability has not been
available. A recent monograph published in Russian (Romankevich
and Vetrov; 2001) provides a restricted view of the organic carbon
cycle addressing only the Russian arctic shelfseas and excluding sedi-
ment core data.
With this book,we present an overview of the sources,pathways,
and burial oforganic carbon in the circum-Arctic continental margin
and deep-sea areas.To understand the Arctic Ocean’s organic carbon
cycle, important system components are addressed here in topical
chapters dealing with:
∑ processes controlling the terrigenous organic carbon input,
∑ primary productivity,
∑ the role ofdissolved organic carbon,
∑ organic carbon flux through the water column,
∑ biological and geochemical processes at the seafloor,and
∑ the burial oforganic carbon and its variability in time and space.
The book serves a common theme – organic carbon.Accordingly,we
have attempted both to collate all available data from each shelf and
VI Preface
the basins ofthe Arctic Ocean and to present these data in common or
parallel formats.A coherent picture of sediment and organic carbon
inputs from the ocean’s margins is beginning to emerge as a conse-
quence ofreasonably complete coverage for major arctic rivers.In con-
trast,we lack crucial measurements of,for example,coastal erosion,
particle flux, sediment core data and primary production for many
regions ofthe Arctic.Future programs focussed on various aspects of
arctic biogeochemistry should help to fill these gaps.
We and the authors ofthe different chapters ofthis book are grate-
ful to numerous colleagues for their efforts in offering many sugges-
tions for improvement ofthe manuscripts,for providing unpublished
data, for discussions as well as for technical support: R. Benner, G.
Budeus,S.Claesson,K.Dittmers,E.Fahrbach,H.Grobe,G.Harrison,
C. Hartmann, J. Hatzky, B. Hollmann, T. Korotkova, H. Köhler, A.P.
Lisitzin, W. Luttmer, M. Maksimova, L. Mayer, B. Meon, F. Niessen,
M.Reigstad,S.Reiser,G.Rohard,U.Schauer,H.-W.Schenke,S.Solomon,
A.Spitzy,L.Tranvik,and D.Yashin.Support for various components
of the study has been provided by the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO) Canada; Department of Natural Resources of Russian
Federation;European Union;German Ministry of Education and Sci-
ence (BMBF);National Science Foundation (NSF);National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA);Office ofNaval Research(ONR);
Norwegian Research Council; Nordic Council of Ministers; Nordic
Arctic Research Programme (NARP); Russian Foundation of Basic
Research; Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology of Russian
Federation;U.S.Geological Survey;Exxon Exploration Company.We
thank Marty Bergmann for financial support and encouragement to
produce this book.RS thanks the Alfred Wegener Institute for support-
ing a fourmonths stay at the Institute ofOcean Sciences Sidney,where
a major part ofthis book has been compiled.
February 2003 R.Steinand
R.W.Macdonald
Contents
1 The Arctic Ocean:
Boundary Conditions and Background Information 1
1.1 Physiography and Bathymetry ofthe Arctic Ocean . . . 1
(M.Jakobsson,A.Grantz,Y.Kristoffersen,
R.Macnab)
1.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Definition ofthe Arctic Ocean and its Constituent Seas 1
1.1.3 Bathymetry and Physiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.4 Volumes,Areas and Mean Depths ofthe Arctic Ocean
and its Constituent Seas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 The Arctic Ocean:Modern Status
and Recent Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
(R.W.Macdonald,E.Sakshaug,R.Stein)
1.2.1 Modern hydrography and Sea-ice Cover
ofthe Arctic Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.2 The Arctic Ocean and Global Change . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.2.2.1 The distant past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.2.2.2 Recent change and the Arctic Oscillation . . . . . . . . 13
1.2.2.3 The Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.3 The Tectonic Evolution ofthe Arctic Ocean:
Overview and Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
(W.Jokat)
1.4 Geochemical Proxies Used for Organic Carbon Source
Identification in Arctic Ocean Sediments . . . . . . . . 24
(R.Stein,R.W.Macdonald)
1.4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.4.2 Organic geochemical bulk parameters . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.4.3 Maceral composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.4.4 Biomarker composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.4.5 The application ofredox markers to organic carbon
sediment geochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2 Modern Terrigenous Organic Carbon Input
to the Arctic Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
(V.Rachold,H.Eicken,V.V.Gordeev,
M.N.Grigoriev,H.-W.Hubberten,A.P.Lisitzin,
V.P.Shevchenko,L.Schirmeister)
2.1 General Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
VIII Contents
2.2 River Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
(V.V.Gordeev,V.Rachold)
2.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.2 River water and suspended matter . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.3 Fluxes oforganic carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3 Organic Carbon Input to the Artic Seas Through
Coastal Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
(M.N.Grigoriev,V.Rachold,H.-W.Hubberten,
L.Schirmeister)
2.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.3.3 Coastal organic carbon input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.4 The Role ofArctic Sea Ice in Transporting
and Cycling Terrestrial Organic Matter . . . . . . . . . 45
(H.Eicken)
2.4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.4.2 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.4.3 Sea ice transport in the Arctic Ocean and entrainment
ofparticulate matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.4.4 Dissolved organic carbon in sea ice . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.4.5 Particulate organic carbon in sea ice . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.4.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.5 Aeolian Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
(V.P.Shevchenko,A.P.Lisitzin)
2.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3 Primary and Secondary Production
in the Arctic Seas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
(E.Sakshaug)
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.2 Major Algal Groups and Their Distribution . . . . . . . 57
3.2.1 Distribution ofspecies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.2.2 Nutritional and chemical properties . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.3 Limitation and Control ofPrimary Production . . . . . 59
3.3.1 Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.3.2 Nutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.4 Primary Production and Growth Rate . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.4.1 New vs.regenerative primary production . . . . . . . . 64
3.4.2 Chla:C ratio,light saturation index,photoacclimation 64
3.4.3 Growth rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.4.4 Growth strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.5 Seasonality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.5.1 Pre-bloom,winter and survial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.5.2 Spring blooms,vertical mixing and ice-edge blooms . . 67
3.5.3 The post bloom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.6 Distribution ofPrimary Production . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.6.1 The deep Arctic Ocean Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.6.2 Polynyas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Contents IX
3.6.3 Arctic ShelfSeas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.6.4 The Atlantic sector:The Nordic Seas,Baffin Bay,
Hudson Bay and Labrador Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.6.5 Bering Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.6.6 Oceanic Bering Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.6.7 Sea ofOkhotsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.7 Mesozooplankton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.7.1 Mesozooplankton biomass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.7.2 Grazing and mesozooplankton production . . . . . . . 78
3.7.3 Match-mismatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.8 Primary Production – Impact ofClimate Change . . . . 79
3.9 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4 The Role of Dissolved Organic Matter
for the Organic Carbon Cycle in the Arctic Ocean . . 83
(R.M.W.Amon)
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2 Riverine DOM on Arctic Shelves and Beyond . . . . . . 83
4.2.1 Estuarine Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.2.2 Chemical characteristics and origin ofDOM
on the Eurasian shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.2.3 The role ofbacteria and photochemical processes
on the Eurasian shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.2.4 The role ofsea ice formation on DOM
on the Eurasian shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.2.5 The distribution ofterrestrial DOM in the central
Arctic Ocean and the GIN Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.3 Distribution,Chemical Composition,and Fluxes
ofMarine DOM in the Central Arctic Ocean . . . . . . . 92
4.3.1 Primary production and bacterial utilization ofDOM . . 92
4.3.2 DOM distribution and chemical composition . . . . . . 94
4.3.3 DOC exchanges between the Arctic Ocean
and adjacent Ocean basins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.3.4 Vertical export ofDOC in the Arctic Ocean . . . . . . . 97
4.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5 Particulate Organic Carbon Flux
to the Arctic Ocean Sea Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
(P.Wassmann,E.Bauerfeind,M.Fortier,
M.Fukuchi,B.Hargrave,B.Moran,T.Noji,
E.-M.Nöthig,K.Olli,R.Peinert,H.Sasaki,
V.P.Shevchenko)
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.2 What do we Know About Vertical Carbon Flux
from the Arctic Ocean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.3 Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.3.1 North Water Polynya (B.Hargrave) . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
X Contents
5.3.2 North East Water Polynya (E.Bauerfeind) . . . . . . . . 106
5.3.3 Greenland Sea (R.Peinert,T.Noji) . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.3.4 Central Barents Sea and Northern Spitsbergen . . . . . 112
(P.Wassmann,K.Olli)
5.3.5 Eastern Barents Sea and Kara Sea (V.Shevchenko) . . . 114
5.3.6 Laptev Sea and Lomonosov Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
(E.-M.Nöthig,V.Shevchenko)
5.3.7 Northern Bering Sea (H.Sasaki,M.Fukuchi) . . . . . . 118
5.3.8 Canadian Ice Island (B.Hargrave) . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.3.9 Canadian Archipelago:Barrow Strait (M.Fortier) . . . . 122
5.4 Regional Variability in POC Export Flux in the Arctic
Ocean Determined Using 234Th as a Tracer . . . . . . . 126
(B.Moran)
5.4.1 Introduction and Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.4.2 Uncertainties in 234Th-derived POC Export Fluxes . . . 127
5.4.3 Regional Variability in Arctic POC Export Fluxes . . . . 127
5.4.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.5 Particulate Organic Carbon Flux to the Seafloor ofthe
Arctic Ocean:Quantity,Seasonality and Processes . . . 131
(P.Wassmann)
5.5.1 Seasonal and Annual Estimates ofVertical Carbon
Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.5.2 Ice,Light,Stratification,and Vertical Carbon Export . . 133
5.5.3 River Run-off,Resuspension,and Vertical Carbon
Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
5.5.4 High Retention ofVertical Carbon Export in
the Twilight Zone ofthe Arctic Ocean . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.5.5 Global Warming and Vertical Carbon Export . . . . . . 135
5.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6 The Benthos of Arctic Seas and its Role
for the Organic Carbon Cycle at the Seafloor . . . . 139
(M.Klages,A,Boetius,J.P.Christensen,
H.Deubel,D.Piepenburg,I.Schewe,T.Soltwedel)
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
6.2 Origin and Evolution ofArctic Habitats and Species . . 141
6.3 Food Supply ofthe Arctic Benthos:Sources
and Pathways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6.4 Benthic Communities ofthe Arctic Seas . . . . . . . . . 146
6.4.1 Arctic Shelves and Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
6.4.2 Central Arctic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.5 Organic Carbon Utilization by the Arctic Benthos . . . 159
6.5.1 Arctic Continental Shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
6.5.2 Central Arctic Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
6.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . 167