Physical drivers of sediment-water interaction on the Beaufort Sea shelf

Climate change is causing sea ice loss on Arctic continental shelves, resulting in increases of shelf-derived materials to the Ocean. Sediment-water interaction can chemically transform water as it moves across shelf, enriching shelf waters nutrients and carbon, which impact primary productivity greenhouse gas cycling. However, drivers sediment-water Ocean are poorly understood. In this study, we use radium isotope measurements physical data from a cruise Beaufort late-October-November 2018 investigate storm events winter formation interaction. response formation, radium-228 228 Ra/ 226 Ra increased bottom waters, with both indicative enhanced exchange. Ammonium, an important nutrient for phytoplankton growth known sediment source, also during time period. Our results suggest that processes related together wind effects, have ability drive dissolved constituents porewaters into column. The spatial variability chemical mass ages based short-lived isotopes these episodic nature, storm-driven mesoscale column features local exchange benthos. • observed formation. Storm Winter lead inputs essential phytoplankton.