Seasonal and spatial patterns in mass and organic matter sedimentation in the North Water

AbstractBaffin Bay hosts the largest and most productive of the Arctic polynyas: the North Water (NOW). Despite its significance and active role in water mass formation, the history of the NOW beyond the observational era remains poorly known. We reconcile the previously unassessed relationship between long-term NOW dynamics and ocean conditions by applying a multiproxy approach to two marine sediment cores from the region that, together, span the Holocene. Declining influence of Atlantic Water in the NOW is coeval with regional records that indicate the inception of a strong and recurrent polynya from ~ 4400 yrs BP, in line with Neoglacial cooling. During warmer Holocene intervals such as the Roman Warm Period, a weaker NOW is evident, and its reduced capacity to influence bottom ocean conditions facilitated northward penetration of Atlantic Water. Future warming in the Arctic may have negative consequences for this vital biological oasis, with the potential knock-on effect of warm water penetration further north and intensified melt of the marine-terminating glaciers that flank the coast of northwest Greenland.

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Biological Structure of the Sea at Long. 142° E. in the North Pacific with Particular Reference to the Interrelation Between Living and Nonliving Organic Matter

The Kuroshio ◽

10.1515/9780824885830-024 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 241-248

Author(s):

Sigeru Motoda ◽

Teruyoshi Kawamura ◽

Satoshi Nishizawa

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

North Pacific ◽

Biological Structure ◽

The North ◽

The North Pacific

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Vulnerability of the North Water ecosystem to climate change

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24742-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sofia Ribeiro ◽

Audrey Limoges ◽

Guillaume Massé ◽

Kasper L. Johansen ◽

William Colgan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sea Ice ◽

Late Holocene ◽

Sediment Cores ◽

Arctic Ecosystems ◽

Little Auk ◽

The North ◽

Water Ecosystem ◽

North Water

AbstractHigh Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous livelihoods are tightly linked and exposed to climate change, yet assessing their sensitivity requires a long-term perspective. Here, we assess the vulnerability of the North Water polynya, a unique seaice ecosystem that sustains the world’s northernmost Inuit communities and several keystone Arctic species. We reconstruct mid-to-late Holocene changes in sea ice, marine primary production, and little auk colony dynamics through multi-proxy analysis of marine and lake sediment cores. Our results suggest a productive ecosystem by 4400–4200 cal yrs b2k coincident with the arrival of the first humans in Greenland. Climate forcing during the late Holocene, leading to periods of polynya instability and marine productivity decline, is strikingly coeval with the human abandonment of Greenland from c. 2200–1200 cal yrs b2k. Our long-term perspective highlights the future decline of the North Water ecosystem, due to climate warming and changing sea-ice conditions, as an important climate change risk.

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Horizontal Movement of Fast Ice in the North Water Area

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/s002214300002949x ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 19 (81) ◽

pp. 547-554 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Hajime Ito ◽

Fritz Müller

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Water Area ◽

Physical Characteristics ◽

Stress Strain ◽

Horizontal Movement ◽

The North ◽

North Water ◽

Fast Ice ◽

External Forces

AbstractThe understanding of the horizontal movement of fast ice is important for applied sea-ice mechanics. A case study, carried out in conjunction with a polynya known as North Water, is presented in this paper. The displacements of the fast-ire arches which separate the polynya from the surrounding ice-covered sea, were measured and found to be small. It is, therefore, confirmed that these arches prevent the influx of large quantities of sea ice into the polynya. The results are then explained in terms of the external forces (wind and current), the stress- strain situations and some physical characteristics (temperature and thickness) which were measured simultaneously.

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