Underway O2/Ar (Oxygen/Argon) and O2 isotope data collected on the Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown, Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, Arctic Ocean, 2015

• Main Author: Juranek, Laurie
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2020
• Subjects: oxygen; oxygenargon; O2 isotopes; underway; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Chukchi; Kodiak; Sea ice; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2p26q39q; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2P26Q39Q

The data archived here were collected during a 2015 research cruise on the Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown (Cruise ID: RHB1505). O2/Ar (Oxygen/Argon) data were collected between August 6, 2015 and September 3, 2015 using an equilibrated inlet mass spectrometer (EIMS) connected to the surface uncontaminated seawater supply of the R/V (Research Vessel) Ronald H Brown. EIMS Data were collected near-continuously over the cruise track which departed from Kodiak, Alaska and sampled waters of the Bering, Chukchi and Western Beaufort Seas. Discrete bottle samples were drawn from the surface uncontaminated seawater supply for calibration of underway O2/Ar data. These samples were also analyzed for the triple isotopic composition of dissolved O2. Satellite measurements have documented significant reductions in sea ice cover, thickness, and duration throughout the Arctic Ocean in recent decades. Because of the complex interactions and feedbacks among physical, biogeochemical and ecological processes in the Arctic, there is significant uncertainty regarding how these changes in sea ice will impact the marine biological pump, which fuels the rich bottom communities on Arctic ocean shelves and is key to the regional carbon cycle. While responses of the biological pump to increased light availability in spring are currently being pursued, a considerable gap in knowledge exists regarding biological processes in the late summer and early fall. Recent studies indicate a several-decade trend of intensifying wind forcing over the Alaskan margin along the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the late, ice-free season (September-November). These events could lead to mixing of nutrients into surface waters, fueling increased biological production and sequestering additional carbon into shelf bottom waters prior to the winter ice advance. However, the lack of direct, concurrent observations of primary and net community productivity rates, and nutrient and carbon distributions during this poorly-sampled time of year hinders efforts to assess the ecosystem implications of such changes. The goal of this project was to address the question of increasing biological production in the late season through intensive field sampling using a cruise of opportunity (RHB1505, this data) and dedicated field sampling in two successive years (SKQ201612S, SKQ201712S -- see separate Arctic Data Center entries).