RESEARCH/REVIEW ARTICLE Changes in the marine carbonate system of the western Arctic: patterns in a rescued data set

• Main Authors: Karina E. Giesbrecht, William J. Williams
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic Ocean; time; Arctic; Canada; Beaufort Sea; canada basin; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.681.7369; http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/download/20577/pdf_1/

A recently recovered and compiled set of inorganic carbon data collected in the Canadian Arctic since the 1970s has revealed substantial change, as well as variability, in the carbonate system of the Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin. Whereas the role of this area as a net atmospheric carbon sink has been confirmed, high pCO2 values in the upper halocline underscore the potential for CO2 outgassing as sea ice retreats and upwelling increases. In addition, increasing total inorganic carbon and decreasing alkalinity are increasing pCO2 and decreasing CaCO3 saturation states, such that undersaturation with respect to aragonite now occurs regularly in both deep waters and the upper halocline. As we witness dramatic changes in the Arctic Ocean and its drainage basin, with rising temperatures, summer and multi-year sea-ice loss, permafrost thawing and coastal erosion, our attempts to understand what is occurring and deconvolute the results of natural versus anthropogenic