Beach observations of plastic and marine litter along the Northwest Passage

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gijsbers ◽  
Hester Jiskoot
Keyword(s):  
Marine Pollution ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Marine Litter ◽  
Northwest Passage ◽  
Distant Early Warning ◽  
Dew Line

<p>Marine litter and microplastics are everywhere. Even the Arctic Ocean, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Island are contaminated as various publications confirm. Little, however, is reported about marine waters and shores of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This poster presents the results of a privately funded citizen science observation to scan remote beaches along the Northwest Passage for marine litter pollution.</p><p>The observations were conducted while enjoying the 2019 Northwest Passage sailing expedition of the Tecla, a 1915 gaff-ketch herring drifter. The expedition started in Ilulissat, Greenland, on 1 August and ended in Nome, Alaska, on 18 September. After crossing Baffin Bay, the ship continued along Pond Inlet, Navy Board Inlet, Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, Peel Sound, Franklin Strait, Rea Strait, Simpson Strait, Queen Maud Gulf, Coronation Gulf, Amundsen Gulf, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea and Bering Strait. The vessel anchored in the settlement harbours of Pond Inlet, Taloyoak, Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay and Herschel Island. In addition, Tecla’s crew made landings at remote beaches on Disko Island (Fortune Bay, Disko Fjord), Beechey Island (Union Bay), Somerset Island (Four Rivers Bay), Boothia Peninsula (Weld Harbour), King William Island (M’Clintock Bay), Jenny Lind Island, and at Kugluktuk and Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula.</p><p>Following the categorization of the OSPAR Guideline for Monitoring Marine Litter on Beaches, litter observations were conducted without penetrating the beach surfaces. Beach stretches scanned varied in length from 100-400 m. No observations were conducted at inhabited settlements or at the abandoned settlements visited on Disko Island (Nipisat) and Beechey Island (Northumberland House).</p><p>Observations on the most remote beaches found 2-5 strongly bleached or decayed items in places such as Union Bay, Four Rivers Bay, Weld Harbour, Jenny Lind Island (Queen Maud Gulf side). Landings within 15 km of local settlements (Fortune Bay, Disko Fjord, Kugluktuk, Tuktoyaktuk) or near military activity (Jenny Lind Island, bay side) showed traces of local camping, hunting or fishing activities, resulting in item counts between 7 and 29. At the lee shore spit of M’Clintock Bay, significant pollution (> 100 items: including outboard engine parts, broken ceramic, glass, clothing, decayed batteries, a crampon and a vinyl record) was found, in contrast to a near-pristine beach on the Simpson Strait side. The litter type and concentration, as well as the remains of a building and shipwrecked fishing vessel indicate that this is an abandoned settlement, possibly related to the construction of the nearby Distant Early Warning Line radar site CAM-2 of Gladman Point. DEW Line sites have long been associated with environmental disturbances.</p><p>Given the 197 beach items recorded, it can be concluded that the beaches of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, which are blocked by sea ice during most of the year, are not pristine. Truly remote places have received marine pollution for decades to centuries. Where (abandoned) settlements are at close range pollution from local activities can be discovered, while ocean currents, wind patterns, ice rafting, distance to river mouths, and flotsam, jetsam and derelict also determine the type and amount of marine litter along the Northwest Passage.</p>

scholarly journals A case Study of old-ice import and export through Peary and Sverdrup Channels in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: 1998–2005

2006 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 329-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bea Alt ◽  
Katherine Wilson ◽  
Tom Carrières
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Northwest Passage ◽  
Ice Coverage ◽  
Through Flow ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
Import And Export

AbstractThis case Study attempts to quantify the amount and timing of the import, export and through-flow of old ice in the Peary Channel–sverdrup Channel area of the northern Canadian Arctic Archipelago during the period 1998–2005. The Study combines quantitative weekly area-averaged ice coverage evaluations from the Canadian Ice Service (CIS) Digital Archive with detailed analysis of Radarsat imagery and ice-motion results from the CIS ice-motion algorithm. The results Show that in 1998 more than 70% of the old ice in Peary–sverdrup was lost, half by melt and export to the South and the other half by export north into the Arctic Ocean, and that no Arctic Ocean old ice was imported into Peary–sverdrup. A net import of 10% old ice was Seen in 1999, with Some indication of through-flow into Southern channels. In 2000, no net import of old ice occurred in Peary–sverdrup, but there was Significant through-flow, with evidence of old ice reaching the Northwest Passage by November. Full recovery of the old-ice regime was complete by the end of 2001. More than two-thirds of the recovery was due to the in Situ formation of Second-year ice. Conditions in the following 3 years were near normal.

scholarly journals Recent extreme light sea ice years in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: 2011 and 2012 eclipse 1998 and 2007

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1313-1358 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. L. Howell ◽  
T. Wohlleben ◽  
A. Komarov ◽  
L. Pizzolato ◽  
C. Derksen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
First Year ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Northwest Passage

Abstract. Record low mean September sea ice area in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) was observed in 2011 (146 × 103 km2), a level that was nearly exceeded in 2012 (150 × 103 km2). These values eclipsed previous September records set in 1998 (200 × 103 km2) and 2007 (220 × 103 km2) and are ∼60% lower than the 1981–2010 mean September climatology. In this study, the driving processes contributing to the extreme light years of 2011 and 2012 were investigated, compared to previous extreme minima of 1998 and 2007, and contrasted against historic summer seasons with above average September ice area. The 2011 minimum was driven by positive July surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies that facilitated rapid melt, coupled with atmospheric circulation in July and August that restricted multi-year ice (MYI) inflow from the Arctic Ocean into the CAA. The 2012 minimum was also driven by positive July SAT anomalies (with coincident rapid melt) but further ice decline was temporarily mitigated by atmospheric circulation in August and September which drove Arctic Ocean MYI inflow into the CAA. Atmospheric circulation was comparable between 2011 and 1998 (impeding Arctic Ocean MYI inflow) and 2012 and 2007 (inducing Arctic Ocean MYI inflow). However, evidence of both preconditioned thinner Arctic Ocean MYI flowing into CAA and maximum landfast first-year ice (FYI) thickness within the CAA was more apparent leading up to 2011 and 2012 than 1998 and 2007. The rapid melt process in 2011 and 2012 was more intense than observed in 1998 and 2007 because of the thinner ice cover being more susceptible to positive SAT forcing. The thinner sea ice cover within the CAA in recent years has also helped counteract the processes that facilitate extreme heavy ice years. The recent extreme light years within the CAA are associated with a longer navigation season within the Northwest Passage.

scholarly journals The DEW Line and Canada’s Arctic Waste: Legacy and Futurity

2016 ◽  
pp. 23-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra Hird
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Waste Remediation ◽  
Military Exercises ◽  
Political Costs ◽  
Distant Early Warning ◽  
Dew Line ◽  
The Cold War

During the Cold War, the United States and Canada embarked on an ambitious military construction project in the Arctic to protect North America from a northern Soviet attack. Comprised of sixty-three stations stretching across Alaska, Canada’s Arctic, Greenland, and Iceland, the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line constitutes both the largest military exercise and waste remediation project in Canadian Arctic history. Despite the massive cleanup operation undertaken, the DEW Line’s waste legacy endures as a prominent and deeply rooted feature of Canada’s Arctic history. Drawing upon a rich historical, anthropological, military, political science, and environmental studies literature, this article explores waste as a key issue in the shifting narratives concerned with the modernization of the Canadian Arctic. While the DEW Line has been extensively analyzed in terms of its effects on the modernization of the Arctic, this article seeks to link Canadian sovereignty, security, resource exploitation, environmental stewardship, and Inuit self-determination directly to waste issues. As industrial activity and military exercises stand to significantly increase in the Arctic, I want to draw attention to the lessons of the DEW Line; that ”develop now; remediate later” incurs steep human health, environmental, financial, and political costs.

scholarly journals Recent extreme light sea ice years in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: 2011 and 2012 eclipse 1998 and 2007

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 1753-1768 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. L. Howell ◽  
T. Wohlleben ◽  
A. Komarov ◽  
L. Pizzolato ◽  
C. Derksen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Northwest Passage ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

Abstract. Remarkably low mean September sea ice area in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) was observed in 2011 (146 × 103 km2), a record-breaking level that was nearly exceeded in 2012 (150 × 103 km2). These values were lower than previous September records set in 1998 (200 × 103 km2) and 2007 (220 × 103 km2), and are ∼60% lower than the 1981–2010 mean September climatology. In this study, the processes contributing to the extreme light years of 2011 and 2012 were investigated, compared to previous extreme minima of 1998 and 2007, and contrasted against historic summer seasons with above average September ice area. The 2011 minimum was associated with positive June through September (JJAS) surface air temperature (SAT) and net solar radiation (K*) anomalies that facilitated rapid melt, coupled with atmospheric circulation that restricted multi-year ice (MYI) inflow from the Arctic Ocean into the CAA. The 2012 minimum was also associated with positive JJAS SAT and K* anomalies with coincident rapid melt, but further ice decline was temporarily mitigated by atmospheric circulation which drove Arctic Ocean MYI inflow into the CAA. Atmospheric circulation was comparable between 2011 and 1998 (impeding Arctic Ocean MYI inflow) and 2012 and 2007 (inducing Arctic Ocean MYI inflow). However, preconditioning was more apparent leading up to 2011 and 2012 than 1998 and 2007. The rapid melt process in 2011 and 2012 was more intense than observed in 1998 and 2007 because of the thinner ice cover being more susceptible to anomalous thermodynamic forcing. The thinner sea ice cover within the CAA in recent years has also helped counteract the processes that facilitate extreme heavy ice years. The recent extreme light years within the CAA are associated with a longer navigation season within the Northwest Passage.

scholarly journals Regional variability of acidification in the Arctic: a sea of contrasts

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. Popova ◽  
A. Yool ◽  
Y. Aksenov ◽  
A. C. Coward ◽  
T. R. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Arctic Ocean is a region that is particularly vulnerable to the impact of ocean acidification driven by rising atmospheric CO2, with potentially negative consequences for calcifying organisms such as coccolithophorids and foraminiferans. In this study, we use an ocean-only general circulation model, with embedded biogeochemistry and a comprehensive description of the ocean carbon cycle, to study the response of pH and saturation states of calcite and aragonite to rising atmospheric pCO2 and changing climate in the Arctic Ocean. Particular attention is paid to the strong regional variability within the Arctic, and, for comparison, simulation results are contrasted with those for the global ocean. Simulations were run to year 2099 using the RCP8.5 (an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) scenario with the highest concentrations of atmospheric CO2). The separate impacts of the direct increase in atmospheric CO2 and indirect effects via impact of climate change (changing temperature, stratification, primary production and freshwater fluxes) were examined by undertaking two simulations, one with the full system and the other in which atmospheric CO2 was prevented from increasing beyond its preindustrial level (year 1860). Results indicate that the impact of climate change, and spatial heterogeneity thereof, plays a strong role in the declines in pH and carbonate saturation (Ω) seen in the Arctic. The central Arctic, Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Baffin Bay show greatest rates of acidification and Ω decline as a result of melting sea ice. In contrast, areas affected by Atlantic inflow including the Greenland Sea and outer shelves of the Barents, Kara and Laptev seas, had minimal decreases in pH and Ω because diminishing ice cover led to greater vertical mixing and primary production. As a consequence, the projected onset of undersaturation in respect to aragonite is highly variable regionally within the Arctic, occurring during the decade of 2000–2010 in the Siberian shelves and Canadian Arctic Archipelago, but as late as the 2080s in the Barents and Norwegian seas. We conclude that, for future projections of acidification and carbonate saturation state in the Arctic, regional variability is significant and needs to be adequately resolved, with particular emphasis on reliable projections of the rates of retreat of the sea ice, which are a major source of uncertainty.

An early nineteenth century meteorological register from the eastern Canadian Arctic

Polar Record ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (178) ◽  
pp. 335-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Kay
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Northwest Passage ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Modern Experience ◽  
Eastern Canadian Arctic

AbstractSignificant warming in the Arctic is anticipated for doubled-CO2 scenarios, but temperatures in the eastern Canadian Arctic have not yet exhibited that trend in the last few decades. The spatial juxtaposition of the winter station in 1822–1823 of William Edward Parry's Northwest Passage expedition with the modern Igloolik Research Centre of the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories affords an opportunity for historical reconstruction and comparison. Parry's data are internally consistent. The association of colder temperatures with westerly and northerly winds, and wanner temperatures with easterly and southerly winds, is statistically significant. Temperatures are not exactly comparable between the two time periods because of differences in instrumentation, exposure, and frequency of readings. Nevertheless, in 1822–1823, November and December appear to have been cold and January to March mild compared to modern experience. Anomalously, winds were more frequently northerly (and less frequently westerly) in the latter months than in recent observations. Parry recorded two warm episodes in mid-winter, but, overall, it appears that the winter of 1822–1823 was not outside the range of modern experience.

scholarly journals Calcium carbonate saturation in the surface water of the Arctic Ocean: undersaturation in freshwater influenced shelves

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2421-2431 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Chierici ◽  
A. Fransson
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Total Alkalinity ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Chukchi Peninsula ◽  
Bering Strait

Abstract. In the summer of 2005, we sampled surface water and measured pH and total alkalinity (AT) underway aboard IB Oden along the Northwest Passage from Cape Farewell (South Greenland) to the Chukchi Sea. We investigated the variability of carbonate system parameters, focusing particularly on carbonate concentration [CO32−] and calcium carbonate saturation states, as related to freshwater addition, biological processes and physical upwelling. Measurements on AT, pH at 15°C, salinity (S) and sea surface temperature (SST), were used to calculate total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT), [CO32−] and the saturation of aragonite (ΩAr) and calcite (ΩCa) in the surface water. The same parameters were measured in the water column of the Bering Strait. Some surface waters in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) and on the Mackenzie shelf (MS) were found to be undersaturated with respect to aragonite (ΩAr<1). In these areas, surface water was low in AT and CT (<1500 μmol kg−1) relative to seawater and showed low [CO32−]. The low saturation states were probably due to the likely the effect of dilution due to freshwater addition by sea ice melt (CAA) and river runoff (MS). High AT and CT and low pH, corresponded with the lowest [CO32−], ΩAr and ΩCa, observed near Cape Bathurst and along the South Chukchi Peninsula. This was linked to the physical upwelling of subsurface water with elevated CO2. The highest surface ΩAr and ΩCa of 3.0 and 4.5, respectively, were found on the Chukchi Sea shelf and in the cold water north of Wrangel Island, which is heavily influenced by high CO2 drawdown and lower CT from intense biological production. In the western Bering Strait, the cold and saline Anadyr Current carries water that is enriched in AT and CT from enhanced organic matter remineralization, resulting in the lowest ΩAr (~1.2) of the area.

ADDITIONAL HEAT FLOW DETERMINATIONS IN THE AREA OF MOULD BAY, ARCTIC CANADA

1966 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. S. B. Paterson ◽  
L. K. Law
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
General Area ◽  
Geothermal Heat ◽  
Field Methods ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Water Depths ◽  
Made In

Seven determinations of geothermal heat flow were made in the general area of southern Prince Patrick Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Measurements were made from sea ice in water depths of between 200 and 600 m. The mean heat flow for the two stations on the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean was 0.46 ± 0.08 μcal cm−2 s−1. The mean heat flow for the five stations in the channels to the east of Mould Bay was 1.46 ± 0.16 μcal cm−2 s−1. The instrument and field methods are described. Errors due to the instrument and to the environment are discussed.

scholarly journals Arctic marine secondary organic aerosol contributes significantly to summertime particle size distributions in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 2787-2812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Croft ◽  
Randall V. Martin ◽  
W. Richard Leaitch ◽  
Julia Burkart ◽  
Rachel Y.-W. Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Size Distribution ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Particle Growth ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
Fractional Error

Abstract. Summertime Arctic aerosol size distributions are strongly controlled by natural regional emissions. Within this context, we use a chemical transport model with size-resolved aerosol microphysics (GEOS-Chem-TOMAS) to interpret measurements of aerosol size distributions from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago during the summer of 2016, as part of the “NETwork on Climate and Aerosols: Addressing key uncertainties in Remote Canadian Environments” (NETCARE) project. Our simulations suggest that condensation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from precursor vapors emitted in the Arctic and near Arctic marine (ice-free seawater) regions plays a key role in particle growth events that shape the aerosol size distributions observed at Alert (82.5∘ N, 62.3∘ W), Eureka (80.1∘ N, 86.4∘ W), and along a NETCARE ship track within the Archipelago. We refer to this SOA as Arctic marine SOA (AMSOA) to reflect the Arctic marine-based and likely biogenic sources for the precursors of the condensing organic vapors. AMSOA from a simulated flux (500 µgm-2day-1, north of 50∘ N) of precursor vapors (with an assumed yield of unity) reduces the summertime particle size distribution model–observation mean fractional error 2- to 4-fold, relative to a simulation without this AMSOA. Particle growth due to the condensable organic vapor flux contributes strongly (30 %–50 %) to the simulated summertime-mean number of particles with diameters larger than 20 nm in the study region. This growth couples with ternary particle nucleation (sulfuric acid, ammonia, and water vapor) and biogenic sulfate condensation to account for more than 90 % of this simulated particle number, which represents a strong biogenic influence. The simulated fit to summertime size-distribution observations is further improved at Eureka and for the ship track by scaling up the nucleation rate by a factor of 100 to account for other particle precursors such as gas-phase iodine and/or amines and/or fragmenting primary particles that could be missing from our simulations. Additionally, the fits to the observed size distributions and total aerosol number concentrations for particles larger than 4 nm improve with the assumption that the AMSOA contains semi-volatile species: the model–observation mean fractional error is reduced 2- to 3-fold for the Alert and ship track size distributions. AMSOA accounts for about half of the simulated particle surface area and volume distributions in the summertime Canadian Arctic Archipelago, with climate-relevant simulated summertime pan-Arctic-mean top-of-the-atmosphere aerosol direct (−0.04 W m−2) and cloud-albedo indirect (−0.4 W m−2) radiative effects, which due to uncertainties are viewed as an order of magnitude estimate. Future work should focus on further understanding summertime Arctic sources of AMSOA.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document