Heavy silicon isotopic composition of silicic acid and biogenic silicain arctic waters over the Beaufort shelf and the Canada Basin

The silicon isotopic composition of silicic acid (δ30Si(OH)4) and biogenic silica (δ30Si‐bSiO2) were measured for the first time in marine Arctic waters from the Mackenzie River delta to the deep Canada Basin in the late summer of 2009. In the upper 100 m of the water column, δ30Si(OH)4 signals (+1.82‰ to +3.08‰) were negatively correlated with the relative contribution of Mackenzie River water. The biogenic Si isotope fractionation factor estimated using an open system model, 30ε = −0.97 ± 0.17‰, agrees well with laboratory and global‐ocean estimates. Nevertheless, the δ30Si dynamics of this region may be better represented by closed system isotope models that yield lower values of 30ε, between −0.33‰ and −0.41‰, depending on how the contribution of sea‐ice diatoms is incorporated. In the upper 400 m, δ30Si‐bSiO2 values were among the heaviest ever measured in marine suspended bSiO2 (+2.03‰ to +3.51‰)..

Changes in the marine carbonate system of the western Arctic: patterns in a rescued data set

A recently recovered and compiled set of inorganic carbon data collected in the Canadian Arctic since the 1970s has revealed substantial change, as well as variability, in the carbonate system of the Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin. Whereas the role of this area as a net atmospheric carbon sink has been confirmed, high pCO2 values in the upper halocline underscore the potential for CO2 outgassing as sea ice retreats and upwelling increases. In addition, increasing total inorganic carbon and decreasing alkalinity are increasing pCO2 and decreasing CaCO3 saturation states, such that undersaturation with respect to aragonite now occurs regularly in both deep waters and the upper halocline