Advective Pathways of nutrients and key Ecological substances in the ARctic

Retreating Arctic sea ice is expected to change the way the ocean interacts with the atmosphere, which will affect the Arctic ecosystems.

APEAR will help to understand how the sea ice decline and the longer summer season will change the pathways of nutrients which enter the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic and Pacific.

Another goal is to examine how the differences between parts of the Arctic ecosystem may change. We will combine in situ measurements from MOSAiC fieldwork with ultra-high-resolution computer modelling to quantify current and future changes in the Arctic ecosystems.

Website: https://www.changing-arctic-ocean.ac.uk/project/apear/

Twitter: @CAO_APEAR

PI: Dr Yevgeny Aksenov, NOC
Dr Benjamin Rabe, Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI)

Email: yka@noc.ac.uk

Project Dates:

October 2018 to October 2022

Funding:

NERC – Strategic Research
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Project

Aim

As Arctic sea ice retreats, exchange of Atlantic and Pacific waters across the Lomonosov Ridge is modified due to changes in the air-ice-ocean momentum fluxes. The ocean circulation systems in the Eurasian and Amerasian Arctic may become less coupled, leading to differing pathways of nutrients advected with water masses originating in the Atlantic and Pacific. Whereas the regional differences in the ocean and ecosystems may increase, the prolonged sea ice-free season can moderate the difference between the two provinces in the Arctic through stronger haline convection and through mixing by wind and waves.

People

NOC Staff involved:

Advective Pathways of nutrients and key Ecological substances in the ARctic

Project

Dr Yevgeny Aksenov

Dr Ekaterina Popova

Dr Stefanie Rynders

Dr Andrew Yool

Dr Chris Wilson