Arctic | Climate and Oceanography
Taking the pulse of the Arctic Ocean system, from the shelves to the pole – a US contribution to the International Synoptic Arctic Survey Program Presenter: Carin Ashjian , cashjian@whoi.edu, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Jacqueline Grebmeier , jgrebmei@umces.edu, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science NIcholas Bates , Nicholas.Bates@bios.edu, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences Robert Campbell , rgcampell@uri.edu, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography Lee Cooper , cooper@umces.edu Seth Danielson , sldanielson@alaska.edu, University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
Lauren Juranek , laurie.juranek@oregonstate.edu, Oregon State University Elizabeth Labunski , elizabeth.labunski@fws.gov, US Fish and Wildlife Service Sue Moore , moore4@uw.edu, University of Washington Center for Ecosystem Sentinels Cynthia Pilskaln , cpilskaln@umassd.edu, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Mary-Louise Timmermans , mary-louise.timmermans@yale.edu, Yale University
The Central Arctic Ocean remains profoundly understudied, particularly with respect to carbon cycling, ecosystem alteration, and associated changes in atmospheric, ice and ocean physics that drive those biological and biogeochemical systems. The region is expected to experience continued marked changes over the coming decades, driven by ongoing climate warming. Yet, because of relatively limited understanding of fundamental characteristics and processes in the region, predicting these changes and their Pan-Arctic linkages remains difficult. The International Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS; 2021-2022) effort seeks Pan-Arctic understanding of core ocean variables on a quasi-synoptic, spatially distributed basis using coordinated, international efforts. As a US contribution to the SAS, funded by the US National Science Foundation, an expedition to quantify the present states of the physical, biological, and biogeochemical systems of the Pacific Arctic (Chukchi Sea, Beaufort shelf/slope, Chukchi Borderlands) and high Arctic Canadian Basin (i.e., the Makarov and Canada basins) was conducted from the USCGC Healy during September and October 2022. The research goals of the expedition were encompassed within the overarching SAS question “What is the present state, and what are the major ongoing transformations of the Arctic marine system?” This is the first U.S expedition in this sector of the high Arctic since the Trans-Arctic Section in 1994 to describe ecosystem characteristics (and the first ever characterization of the benthos in many locations) and the first to describe many carbon characteristics since the GEOTRACES cruise in 2015. An overview of the expedition and some preliminary observations obtained during the cruise will be presented.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 63
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