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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L19401, doi:10.1029/2004GL020666, 2004

Drifting Arctic sea ice archives changes in ocean surface conditions

Stephanie Pfirman

Environmental Science Department, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

William Haxby

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA

Hajo Eicken

Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

Martin Jeffries

Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

Dorothea Bauch

Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften an der Universität Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany

Abstract

δ¹⁸O profiles in drifting Arctic sea ice are coupled with back trajectories of ice drift and an ice growth model to reconstruct the surface hydrography of the Arctic Ocean interior. The results compare well with δ¹⁸O values obtained by traditional oceanographic methods and known water mass distributions. Analysis of the stable isotopic composition of sea ice floes sampled at strategic and relatively accessible locations, e.g., Fram Strait, could aid in mapping spatial and temporal variations in Arctic Ocean surface waters.

Received 3 June 2004; accepted 3 September 2004; published 8 October 2004.

Index Terms: 4207 Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography; 1863 Hydrology: Snow and ice (1827); 4283 Oceanography: General: Water masses; 4215 Oceanography: General: Climate and interannual variability (3309); 1860 Hydrology: Runoff and streamflow.

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Citation: Pfirman, S., W. Haxby, H. Eicken, M. Jeffries, and D. Bauch (2004), Drifting Arctic sea ice archives changes in ocean surface conditions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L19401, doi:10.1029/2004GL020666.

Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.