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Pre‐modern Arctic Ocean circulation from surface sediment neodymium isotopes
Author(s) -
Haley Brian A.,
Polyak Leonid
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/grl.50188
Subject(s) - geology , oceanography , arctic , authigenic , north atlantic deep water , canada basin , sediment , seafloor spreading , arctic dipole anomaly , surface water , ocean current , water column , circumpolar deep water , bottom water , thermohaline circulation , arctic ice pack , environmental science , paleontology , drift ice , environmental engineering
We present a survey of Nd isotopes measured from authigenic phases on surface sediments from the Arctic Ocean seafloor. Comparison with published dissolved water column Nd isotope distributions suggests that ε Nd from sediment leachates accurately represents bottom water circulation of the Arctic Ocean, with Atlantic (~−11 ε Nd ) and Pacific (~−5 ε Nd ) water end‐members clearly distinguishable. Nd isotopic data from the Chukchi margin show several apparent deviations from the expected pattern, which imply that this margin has been a region of sustained shelf‐to‐basin sediment redistribution and/or a region where deep water cascades downslope, such as through brine rejection during ice formation. These data also provide insights into a pre‐anthropocene “baseline” (several thousand years) for investigating Arctic Ocean circulation in a changing climate; the data presented here are indicative that these changes may be impacting the deep as well as surface ocean.