Geochemistry of Surficial and Ice-Rafted Sediments from The
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Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (1999) 49, 45–59 Article No. ecss.1999.0485, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on Geochemistry of Surficial and Ice-rafted Sediments from the Laptev Sea (Siberia) J. A. Ho¨lemanna, M. Schirmacherb, H. Kassensa and A. Prangeb aGEOMAR, Forschungszentrum fu¨r marine Geowissenschaften, Wischhofstr. 1–3, 24148 Kiel, Germany bGKSS, Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH, Max-Planck-Str., 21502 Geesthacht, Germany Received 20 June 1997 and accepted in revised form 19 February 1999 The Laptev Sea, as a part of the world’s widest continental shelves surrounding the Arctic Ocean, is a key area for understanding the land–ocean interaction in high latitude regions. With a yearly freshwater input of 511 km3, the Lena River—one of the eight major world rivers—has an influencing control over the environment of this Arctic marginal sea, which is ice-covered during most of the year. In this paper, the first measurements are presented of the major and trace element distribution within the <20 ìm grain size fraction of surficial sediments and of particulate matter in new and young ice from the Laptev Sea (Siberian Arctic). The concentration and distribution of major and trace elements have been determined in 51 surficial sediment samples covering the whole Laptev Sea shelf south of the 50 m isobath. Thirty-one samples of particulate matter in newly formed ice were taken during the freeze-up period in 1995. Median concentration levels of heavy metals in surficial sediments (Ni (46 ìgg"1), Cu (26 ìgg"1), Zn (111 ìgg"1) and Pb (21 ìgg"1) are within the concentration range of marine unpolluted sediments. Also the sediment-laden ice showed no indication of anthropogenic perturbation of the trace metal inventory. Spatial distribution patterns of heavy metals are mainly determined by variation of mineral composition and different fluvial sediment sources in the eastern and western Laptev Sea. The Laptev Sea shelf is cut by five north–south trending submarine valleys. Enrichment of manganese in the oxic surficial sediment layer within these valleys and the occurrence of small ferromanganese nodules are caused by a high input of dissolved and particulate Mn from the Lena River and a strong diagenetic cycling of Mn on the Laptev Sea shelf. Evidence is given that the content of As in surficial sediments is also strongly affected by diagenetic cycling. This causes surficial sediment As concentrations of more than 100 ìgg"1. Enrichment of Mn and As was mainly observed in the submarine valleys distant from the major river mouth. The sediment dilution due to higher sedimentation rates near the river outlets and a strong sediment re-working by ice gouging in the shallow areas are the principle causes for the absence of diagenetic accumulation in this region. During the formation of new ice scavenging of riverine suspended matter and resuspension of sediments followed by an incorporation of particles into the ice are important processes for the river–shelf–ocean transport of particulate trace elements. It could be shown that particle-loaded ice posseses the same geochemical signatures as the suspended matter and surficial seafloor sediments in the area of ice origin. This has also strong implications for the contaminant transport on the Arctic shelves and allows to use the geochemical signature of sea ice for the reconstruction of ice drift pattern within the Arctic Ocean. 1999 Academic Press Keywords: geochemistry; trace elements; sediments; ice; Laptev Sea; Arctic Introduction the generation of sea ice and the thermohaline state of the Arctic water. Concerning the formation of the The broad continental shelves of the Eurasian Arctic Arctic pack ice-cover, the Laptev Sea is considered a are a key area for understanding the transport of fresh major source of ice traversing the Arctic Ocean with water, ice and sediments into the Arctic Ocean. The the transpolar drift (Eicken et al., 1996). Current rivers Yenissei, Lena and Ob (all among the eight research has shown that during the formation of new major rivers of the world) discharge huge amounts of ice in the Laptev Sea, sediment particles and sus- fresh water to the Kara and Laptev Sea causing a pended matter are entrained into sea ice and might be strong salinity and temperature stratification of the transported by the Siberian branch of the transpolar water column. During summer the warm, brackish ice drift across the Arctic Ocean and through the water from the Lena River can be traced as far as Fram Strait into the Norwegian Greenland Sea 500 km into the northern Laptev Sea (Suslov, 1961). (Nu¨rnberg et al., 1994; Eicken et al., 1996). These high freshwater fluxes have a strong effect on Sediment-laden sea ice of the Laptev Sea (between 0272–7714/99/070045+15 $30.00/0 1999 Academic Press 46 J. A. Ho¨lemann et al. 105°E110° 115° 120° 125° 130° 135° 140° 145°E 78°N 78°N 0 0 1 Laptev Sea 50 40 50 0 4 30 40 ° 30 ° 77 30 20 20 20 77 10 40 50 4 50 40 50 0 20 30 50 20 20 10 1 A 40 76° 0 76° 5 50 0 Taimyr Peninsula 40 40 Kotelnyy 40 30 B 40 40 20 ° 30 30 ° 75 0 30 75 2 0 20 3 20 E 10 20 20 20 10 10 30 Khatanga 10 30 C 10 G 10 ° 10 ° 74 10 10 74 10 20 20 20 Anabar 10 0 D 2 9% 10 E 73° F 73° Olenek Lena Delta 10 10 57% 10 10 7% 20 20 27% 10 10 72° Tiksi H 10 Yana Omoloy 71°N 115°E 120° 125° 130° 135° 140° 145°E F 1. Location of the study area and the stations (indicated by asterisks). The capital letters show the major morphological units within the Laptev Sea: (A) Anabar-Khatanga valley; (B) Olenek valley; (C) western Lena valley; (D) eastern Lena valley; (E) Yana valley; (F) Vasilevskaya shoal; (G) Semenovskaya shoal; (H) Buor Khaya bay. Arrows indicate the average flow percentage through the four major branches of the River Lena (after Le´toille et al., 1996). 1 and 25% of the total ice cover) has average particle signatures in sea ice as proxies for the reconstruction concentrations of 156 g m"3 with maximum values of of the ice drift pattern in the Arctic Ocean. The focus 600 g m"3 (Eiken et al., 1996). During the trans- was on surficial sediments because only the sediments Arctic passage, sea ice undergoes several cycles of at the interface of the sea-floor and water column are melting, freezing and deformation. As a result incor- available for the incorporation into the newly forming porated particles are released and, thus, can influence sea ice. This study is part of a multidisciplinary the geochemical signature of the underlying water research programme investigating the ice, water column (Pfirman et al., 1990). It can be assumed that column, sediments and biota within the Laptev Sea. this mechanism also results in the incorporation and transport of potentially toxic compounds and metals Study area from the coastal areas of the Eurasian Arctic to the Arctic Ocean and further to the Greenland Sea (Barrie The low gradient continental shelf of the Laptev Sea et al., 1992; Pfirman et al., 1995). covers 475 000 km2 (0–200 m; Treshnikov, 1985) Although there is a growing interest in the investi- and varies in width from 300 km in the western part to gation of these processes, only a few investigations more than 500 km in the east. The shelf break occurs have been devoted to the study of the geochemical at a depth of 50 to 60 m. Five relict river channels signatures of Arctic sea ice and the major sources of with elongated, closed depressions traverse the flat sea ice sediments, i.e. the suspended matter and the shelf (Figure 1). These valleys are potential conduits surficial sediments of the Eurasian shelf seas. Con- and depositional areas for terrigenous sediment input. cerning the Laptev Sea region, only recently reliable Siberian rivers show high seasonal variability in river trace element data from the Lena River and the discharge. For example, the Lena River with a yearly coastal area off the Lena delta have been published discharge of 511 km3 (Lisitzyn, 1996) has an average (Martin et al., 1993; Guieu et al., 1996; Nolting et al., runoff of 5600 m3 s"1 in May and 63 900 m3 s"1 in 1996). Concerning the whole Laptev Sea shelf and the June (Vuglinky, State Hydrological Institute, St. ice growing in this region, no published data are Petersburg, unpubl. data). In total, 717 km3 of fresh available. The primary purpose of this paper was: (a) water are discharged yearly by the five major rivers, to assess metal contamination levels in surficial sedi- i.e. Khatanga, Anabar, Olenek, Lena and Yana. ments and particles in newly formed ice; (b) to extend Literature data for the fluvial input of suspended knowledge of the trace element cycling and the river– matter to the delta area and the Laptev Sea by shelf–ocean transport within the Laptev Sea; and (c) the Lena River vary between 12#106 tonnes yr"1 to provide information about the value of geochemical (Milliman & Meade, 1983) and 21#106 tonnes yr"1 Geochemistry of surficial and ice-rafted sediments 47 (Alabyan et al., 1995). Because permafrost areas are land based expedition during the spring river break-up characterized by the development of fine grained soils in 1996. Undisturbed surficial sediment was taken (Suslov, 1961; Holmes & Craiger, 1974), the sedi- at 51 stations with two types of space box corers ments in the submarine valleys of the eastern Laptev (50#50 and 30#30 cm surface area).