From Davis Strait to Bering Strait: The Arrival of the Commercial Whaling Fleet in North America's Western Arctic

AbstractSalinity-driven density stratification of the upper Arctic Ocean isolates sea-ice cover and cold, nutrient-poor surface waters from underlying warmer, nutrient-rich waters. Recently, stratification has strengthened in the western Arctic but has weakened in the eastern Arctic; it is unknown if these trends will continue. Here we present foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopes from Arctic Ocean sediments since 35,000 years ago to reconstruct past changes in nutrient sources and the degree of nutrient consumption in surface waters, the latter reflecting stratification. During the last ice age and early deglaciation, the Arctic was dominated by Atlantic-sourced nitrate and incomplete nitrate consumption, indicating weaker stratification. Starting at 11,000 years ago in the western Arctic, there is a clear isotopic signal of Pacific-sourced nitrate and complete nitrate consumption associated with the flooding of the Bering Strait. These changes reveal that the strong stratification of the western Arctic relies on low-salinity inflow through the Bering Strait. In the central Arctic, nitrate consumption was complete during the early Holocene, then declined after 5,000 years ago as summer insolation decreased. This sequence suggests that precipitation and riverine freshwater fluxes control the stratification of the central Arctic Ocean. Based on these findings, ongoing warming will cause strong stratification to expand into the central Arctic, slowing the nutrient supply to surface waters and thus limiting future phytoplankton productivity.

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Arctic voyages of the motor-cutter Belvedere, 1983–87

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247400009190 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 24 (150) ◽

pp. 231-234

Author(s):

John Bockstoce

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Commercial Whaling ◽

History Of ◽

Western Arctic ◽

Sailing Ship

This article summarizes voyages in the western Arctic of North America during four summers 1983–87, in an 18.3 m cutter-rigged steel motor cruiser, for the purpose of research into the history of commercial whaling, sealing and fur trading. Use of a small, self-sufficient sea-going boat allows access into the small harbours and coves where relics of commerce from the sailing-ship and early steam-ship eras are mostly found.

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Quantifying the Bering Strait Oceanic Fluxes and their Impacts on Sea-Ice and Water Properties in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and Western Arctic Ocean for 2013-2014

10.21236/ada617871 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca Woodgate

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Bering Strait ◽

Western Arctic Ocean ◽

Water Properties ◽

Western Arctic

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A Gazetteer of Whalers' Place-Names for the Bering Strait Region and the Western Arctic

Names ◽

10.1179/nam.1978.26.3.258 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 258-270

Author(s):

John R. Bockstoce ◽

Charles F. Batchelder

Keyword(s):

Bering Strait ◽

Place Names ◽

Western Arctic

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Source and Pathway of the Western Arctic Upper Halocline in a Data-Constrained Coupled Ocean and Sea Ice Model

Journal of Physical Oceanography ◽

10.1175/jpo-d-11-040.1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 42 (5) ◽

pp. 802-823 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

An T. Nguyen ◽

Ronald Kwok ◽

Dimitris Menemenlis

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Formation Rate ◽

Late Summer ◽

Seasonal Development ◽

Late Winter ◽

Bering Strait ◽

Western Arctic ◽

Passive Tracers ◽

Chukchi Shelf ◽

Ice Model

Abstract A coupled ocean and sea ice model is used to investigate dense water (DW) formation in the Chukchi and Bering shelves and the pathways by which this water feeds the upper halocline. Two 1992–2008 data-constrained solutions at 9- and 4-km horizontal grid spacing show that 1) winter sea ice growth results in brine rejection and DW formation; 2) the DW flows primarily down Barrow and Central–Herald Canyons in the form of bottom-trapped, intermittent currents to depths of 50–150 m from the late winter to late summer seasons; and 3) eddies with diameters ~ 30 km carry the cold DW from the shelf break into the Canada Basin interior at depths of 50–150 m. The 4-km data-constrained solution does not show eddy transport across the Chukchi Shelf at shallow depths; instead, advection of DW downstream of polynya regions is driven by a strong (~0.1 m s−1) mean current on the Chukchi Shelf. Upper halocline water (UHW) formation rate was obtained from two methods: one is based on satellite data and on a simple parameterized approach, and the other is computed from the authors’ model solution. The two methods yield 5740 ±1420 km3 yr−1 and 4190–4860 ±1440 km3 yr−1, respectively. These rates imply a halocline replenishment period of 10–21 yr. Passive tracers also show that water with highest density forms in the Gulf of Anadyr and along the eastern Siberian coast immediately north of the Bering Strait. These results provide a coherent picture of the seasonal development of UHW at high spatial and temporal resolutions and serve as a guide for improving understanding of water-mass formation in the western Arctic Ocean.

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Latitudinal Distributions and Controls of Bacterial Community Composition during the Summer of 2017 in Western Arctic Surface Waters (from the Bering Strait to the Chukchi Borderland)

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-53427-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jiyoung Lee ◽

Sung-Ho Kang ◽

Eun Jin Yang ◽

Alison M. Macdonald ◽

Hyoung Min Joo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Community ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Community Composition ◽

Surface Waters ◽

Bacterial Communities ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Bacterial Community Composition ◽

Bering Strait ◽

Western Arctic ◽

Chukchi Borderland

AbstractThe western Arctic Ocean is experiencing some of the most rapid environmental changes in the Arctic. However, little is known about the microbial community response to these changes. Employing observations from the summer of 2017, this study investigated latitudinal variations in bacterial community composition in surface waters between the Bering Strait and Chukchi Borderland and the factors driving the changes. Results indicate three distinctive communities. Southern Chukchi bacterial communities are associated with nutrient rich conditions, including genera such as Sulfitobacter, whereas the northern Chukchi bacterial community is dominated by SAR clades, Flavobacterium, Paraglaciecola, and Polaribacter genera associated with low nutrients and sea ice conditions. The frontal region, located on the boundary between the southern and northern Chukchi, is a transition zone with intermediate physical and biogeochemical properties; however, bacterial communities differed markedly from those found to the north and south. In the transition zone, Sphingomonas, with as yet undetermined ecological characteristics, are relatively abundant. Latitudinal distributions in bacterial community composition are mainly attributed to physical and biogeochemical characteristics, suggesting that these communities are susceptible to Arctic environmental changes. These findings provide a foundation to improve understanding of bacterial community variations in response to a rapidly changing Arctic Ocean.

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