Barium in seawater and sediments from the Artic Ocean

As part of ongoing circulation studies in the Arctic, seawater samples for dissolved Ba concentrations were obtained during Sep.-Oct., 1992 at several locations in the Bering Strait, Eastern Chukchi and Southern Beaufort Seas. The results reveal a dynamic rang (10 to 150 nmol/kg) for this element in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Falkner, Kelly Kennison, Macdonald, Robie W, Carmack, Eddy C, Weingartner, T
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 1994
Subjects:
Bottle
Niskin
CT
Henry Larson
HL92-16
HX166-track
IOS-A1
NIS
Silicon Cycling in the World Ocean
SINOPS
Underway cruise track measurements
Arctic
Bering Strait
Pacific
Indian
Chukchi
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.734072
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.734072
Description
Summary:As part of ongoing circulation studies in the Arctic, seawater samples for dissolved Ba concentrations were obtained during Sep.-Oct., 1992 at several locations in the Bering Strait, Eastern Chukchi and Southern Beaufort Seas. The results reveal a dynamic rang (10 to 150 nmol/kg) for this element in the Arctic equal to or greater than that in combined Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Lowest levels are observed in surface waters, with values tending to decrease northwards in the direction of currents generally flowing frorn the Bering Strait along the Alaskan coast. Low surfacc concentrations tend to be accompanied by relatively enriched near bottom levels. On the basis of these spatial distributions, hydrographic observations and a knowledge of its behavior in other marine settings, it appears that Ba can be significantly depleted from surface waters as a result of the highly seasonal biological aclivities over Arctic marginal shelves. Removal at the surface is counteracted to some extent by regeneration at depth or in the sediments and by riverine inputs. The biologically related drawdown is likely to enhance the contrast between 'background' surface Ba levels in the Arctic and waters imprinted by regeneration and/or rivers, These preliminary findings suggest that Ba holds particular promise for tracing river waters and the ventilation of halodine waters hy laterally sinking brines produced during ice formation over the shelves.

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