Tracer Based Examination of Halocline and Fresh Water Exchange in the Western Arctic

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ABSTRACTOPP-9815707FALKNER, KELLYOREGON STATE UNIVERSITYThe investigator will examine the presence of barium in the water and sediment in the Beaufort Sea as a tracer for river sources of particles that are carried off the continental shelf by oceanographic currents. The barium tracer has been shown to be an effective tracer for determining exchange processes between coastal and basin regions and, as such, will be an excellent way to examine the pathways and exchange rate of carbon from the productive continental shelf to the deep basin. The investigator will examine water samples and sediment-trap sediments for barium and use the measurements in a model to reveal offshore circulation patterns in the Arctic Ocean. Continued development of a new instrument for a barium analyzer that can be used to measure barium from a ship. The project forms an important component of the Shelf-Basin Interaction project which is designed to examine the processes that control the transport of carbon from the biologically productive Arctic Ocean continental shelf to the deep basin. The results of this project will provide input for planning a large Phase 2 field program of the Shelf Basin Interactions project in 2002 in the same geographic area.