Using fluorescent dissolved organic matter to trace and distinguish the origin of Arctic surface waters

Climate change affects the Arctic with regards to permafrost thaw, sea-ice melt, alterations to the freshwater budget and increased export of terrestrial material to the Arctic Ocean. The Fram and Davis Straits represent the major gateways connecting the Arctic and Atlantic. Oceanographic surveys we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Goncalves-Araujo, Rafael, Granskog, Mats A., Bracher, Astrid, Azetsu-Scott, K., Dodd, Paul A., Stedmon, Colin A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Nature 2016
Subjects:
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
canada basin
Climate change
Davis Strait
East Greenland
Fram Strait
Greenland
Ice
permafrost
Sea ice
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/41843/
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/41843/1/2016_Goncalves-Araujo_etal_SREP_FDOM_as_water_mass_tracer_Arctic.pdf
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep33978
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.48698
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.48698.d001
Description
Summary:Climate change affects the Arctic with regards to permafrost thaw, sea-ice melt, alterations to the freshwater budget and increased export of terrestrial material to the Arctic Ocean. The Fram and Davis Straits represent the major gateways connecting the Arctic and Atlantic. Oceanographic surveys were performed in the Fram and Davis Straits, and on the east Greenland Shelf (EGS), in late summer 2012/2013. Meteoric (fmw), sea-ice melt, Atlantic and Pacific water fractions were determined and the fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter (FDOM) were characterized. In Fram Strait and EGS, a robust correlation between visible wavelength fluorescence and fmw was apparent, suggesting it as a reliable tracer of polar waters. However, a pattern was observed which linked the organic matter characteristics to the origin of polar waters. At depth in Davis Strait, visible wavelength FDOM was correlated to apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) and traced deep-water DOM turnover. In surface waters FDOM characteristics could distinguish between surface waters from eastern (Atlantic + modified polar waters) and western (Canada-basin polar waters) Arctic sectors. The findings highlight the potential of designing in situ multi-channel DOM fluorometers to trace the freshwater origins and decipher water mass mixing dynamics in the region without laborious samples analyses.

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