Nutrient dynamics and nitrogen-based production in the western Canadian Arctic Ocean

• Main Author: Simpson, Kyle G. F.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: McGill University 2007
• Subjects: Nutrient cycles > Beaufort Sea; Marine productivity > Beaufort Sea; Polynyas > Beaufort Sea; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Cape Bathurst; Amundsen Gulf; Beaufort Sea; Mackenzie Shelf; Phytoplankton; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=112363

Inclement climate conditions have made the Arctic Ocean logistically difficult to study, and thus, our historical knowledge of Arctic Ocean processes are limited. Recent observations indicate rapid and abrupt changes in climate. These changes are thought to includes rising temperatures, increase storm activity, altered freshwater balance and a notable decrease in the concentration and extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean. Increasing awareness of these changing conditions and our poor knowledge of how the physical environment influences carbon fluxes, planktonic productivity and biogeochemical cycling have lead to international efforts to address these questions. The data presented here addresses biogeochemical cycling and phytoplankton primary production in the pelagic ecosystem. Given the pace of environmental change in the arctic (rapid ice retreat, record minimum ice extents, and temperature rise) and the relatively little historical data that is available for the region, the data presented here can also be used as a baseline data set from which predictions can be made and future observations can be compared. Conducted as part of the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES), this thesis provides a current review of nutrient dynamics and cycling, and estimates of annual new and net primary production for the Mackenzie Shelf, the Amundsen Gulf and the Cape Bathurst polynya in the southeastern Beaufort Sea in the Canadian Arctic Ocean.