Oxygen isotopic composition of bottom seawater and tunicate cellulose used as indicators of water masses in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas

• Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
• Main Authors: Grebmeier, Jacqueline M., Cooper, Lee W., DeNiro, Michael J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1990
• Subjects: Anadyr; Anadyr'; Bering Sea; Chukchi; Sea ice; Yukon river; Alaska; Yukon
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.1990.35.5.1182; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.1990.35.5.1182; https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1990.35.5.1182

Oxygen isotopic composition of bottom seawater and tunicate cellulose were used as short‐term and long‐term indicators, respectively, of water‐mass characteristics in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. Oxygen isotopic composition of northeastern Bering Sea waters is influenced by Yukon River inflows of 18 O‐depleted continental water mixing with relatively 18 O‐enriched waters contributed by the Anadyr Current. Tunicate cellulose sampled under Alaska coastal water is more depleted in 18 O than that collected under Bering shelf and Anadyr waters, which reflects the oxygen isotopic composition of these waters. Tunicate cellulose collected under the mixed Bering shelf water displays intermediate δ 18 O values. Oxygen isotopic analyses of bottom seawater were used to determine the spatial location and influence of continental and coastal‐derived precipitation and of sea‐ice formation on water‐mass structure on the continental shelf of the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. Results indicate that the oxygen isotopic composition of tunicate cellulose, averaged over multiple seasons, may serve as a long‐term biochemical indicator of water‐mass patterns in ice‐covered polar regions where continuous sampling is impractical.