Separating individual contributions of major Siberian rivers in the Transpolar Drift of the Arctic Ocean

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Paffrath, Ronja, Laukert, Georgi, Bauch, Dorothea, Rutgers van der Loeff, Michiel, Pahnke, Katharina
• Other Authors: BMBF and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; Arctic; Arctic Ocean
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86948-y; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-86948-y.pdf; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-86948-y

Abstract The Siberian rivers supply large amounts of freshwater and terrestrial derived material to the Arctic Ocean. Although riverine freshwater and constituents have been identified in the central Arctic Ocean, the individual contributions of the Siberian rivers to and their spatiotemporal distributions in the Transpolar Drift (TPD), the major wind-driven current in the Eurasian sector of the Arctic Ocean, are unknown. Determining the influence of individual Siberian rivers downstream the TPD, however, is critical to forecast responses in polar and sub-polar hydrography and biogeochemistry to the anticipated individual changes in river discharge and freshwater composition. Here, we identify the contributions from the largest Siberian river systems, the Lena and Yenisei/Ob, in the TPD using dissolved neodymium isotopes and rare earth element concentrations. We further demonstrate their vertical and lateral separation that is likely due to distinct temporal emplacements of Lena and Yenisei/Ob waters in the TPD as well as prior mixing of Yenisei/Ob water with ambient waters.