The turbidity maximum zone of the Yenisei River (Siberia) and its impact on organic and inorganic proxies

A general overview of the processes taking place in the summer mixing zone of the fresh Yenisei River water with the marine waters of the Kara Sea is given in this study, with special emphasis on the interaction between bulk (total suspended matter), inorganic (Fe, Mn) and organic (suspended organic carbon, suspended nitrogen) proxies. Within the mixing zone, a zone of enhanced turbidity (maximum turbidity zone) was observed comparable to studies in other rivers. Flocculation of particles due to changes in salinity and hydrography cause this maximum turbidity zone, and resuspension additionally enhances the turbidity in the near-bottom layers. Organic matter behaves conservatively in the mixing zone in terms of its percentage of suspended matter. It, however, undergoes degradation as revealed by amino acid data. Inorganic, redox- and salinity-sensitive, proxies (Mn, Fe) behave non-conservatively. Dissolved iron is removed at low salinities (<2) due to precipitation of iron oxyhydroxides and adsorption of manganese on suspended particles, enhancing the Mn/Al ratio of the suspended matter in the same zone. At higher salinities within the mixing zone, Fe/Al and Mn/Al ratios of the suspended particles are depleted due to resuspension of sediment with lower Fe/Al and Mn/Al ratios. Dissolved manganese concentrations are significantly higher in the near-bottom layers of the mixing zone due to release from the anoxic sediment. All things considered, the Yenisei River mixing zone shows patterns similar to other world's rivers

Recent particulate organic carbon and total suspended matter fluxes from the Ob and Yenisei Rivers into the Kara Sea (Siberia)

The Ob and Yenisei Rivers account for more than one-third of the total fresh water supply to the Arctic Ocean. In the past, their sediment load and particulate organic carbon (POC) discharge into the Kara Sea has been measured at stations in the hinterland far south of the estuaries. Suspended matter has been sampled in the estuaries and southern Kara Sea within the framework of the joint RussianGerman "SIRRO" program (Siberian River Run-Off), allowing a reliable new estimate of fluxes from the rivers into the Kara Sea. Our estimates of annual supplies of sediment (3.76x10^6 t), particulate organic carbon(0.27x10^6 t) and particulate nitrogen (PN) (0.027x10^6 t) from the Ob River to the Kara Sea are lower than earlier estimates from the northernmost gauging station in the hinterland due to deposition of particulate matter in the Ob Bay. On the other hand, our estimates of the Yeniseis annual sediment (5.03x10^6 t), particulate organic carbon (0.57x10^6 t) and particulate nitrogen (0.084x10^6 t) supplies to the Kara Sea are probably too high, as they suggest a pure bypass system in the investigated area. We differentiate between an area of recent deposition in the south of the Kara Sea and an area of recent organic matter degradation further north

A contemporary sediment and organic carbon budget for the Kara Sea shelf (Siberia)

It has recently been realized that the Arctic undergoes drastic changes, probably resulting from global change induced processes. This acts on the cycling of matter and on biogenic elements in the Arctic Ocean having feedback mechanisms with the global climate, for example by interacting with atmospheric trace gas concentration. A contemporary budget for biogenic elements as well as suspended matter for the Arctic Ocean as a baseline for comparison with effects of further global change is, thus, needed. Available budgets are based on the late Holocene sedimentary record and are therefore quiet different from the present which has already been affected by the intense anthropogenic activity of the last centuries.We calculated a contemporary suspended matter and organic carbon budget for the Kara Sea utilizing the numerous available data from the recent literature as well as our own data from Russian-German SIRRO (Siberian River Run-off) expeditions. For calculation of the budgets we used a multi-box model to simplify the Kara Sea shelf and estuary system: input was assumed to comprise riverine and eolian input as well as coastal erosion, output was assumed to consist of sedimentation and export to the Arctic Ocean. Exchange with the adjacent seas was considered in our budget, and primary production as well as recycling of organic material was taken into account. According to our calculations, about 18.5x106 t yr-1 of sediments and 0.37x106 t yr-1 of organic carbon are buried in the estuaries, whereas 20.9x106 t yr-1 sediment and 0.31x106 t yr-1 organic carbon are buried on the shelf. Most sources and sinks of our organic carbon budget of the Kara Sea are in the same order of magnitude, making it a region very sensitive to further changes

Structure and function of contemporary food webs on Arctic shelves: A panarctic comparison: The pelagic system of the Kara Sea Communities and components of carbon flow

After a short introduction to the physical setting and the history of biological research the pelagic ecosystem of the Kara Sea is described. Main emphasis is on regional aspects of the plankton communities and their seasonal dynamics using mostly data collected between 1996 and 2001. In the zooplankton, for which most data were available, four regional aggregations were separated: (1) the rivers and estuaries of the Southern Kara Sea, (2) the south-western and (3) the central Kara Sea, and (4) the northern troughs and slope. The phytoplankton communities had a similar distribution. To provide components for detailed carbon budgets the regional dynamics of bacterial, phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass and production are described and carbon requirements of bacteria and zooplankton are estimated. For completeness a short literature review on higher trophic levels is included. Finally, recent observations of the pelago-benthic coupling are considered. Estimates of the carbon requirements from the plankton and benthos reveal a large underestimation of primary production, which to date, together with seasonal aspects, shows the largest gap in our knowledge

ENSO-driven carbon see saw in the Indo-Pacific

The sediment trap experiments have been carried out during the 2001/2002 El Niño/La Niña transition in the monsoon-driven and freshwater influenced upwelling system off South Java. The results indicate that enhanced precipitation rates and associated river discharges increase the CO2-uptake of the biological pump by increasing the organic carbon export and reducing the carbonate precipitation. The freshwater, furthermore, forms a buoyant low salinity surface layer that caps off the nutrient and CO2-rich subsurface waters which shortens the upwelling season during wet La Niña conditions. A reduced capping-effect during dryer El Niño conditions strengthens the upwelling and as shown by our model results increase CO2 emission into the atmosphere along the freshwater influenced continental margins in SE Asia. By contrast El Niño weakens upwelling and reduces the CO2 emission in the equatorial Pacific Ocean