ARCUS 14th Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum 2002

The Arctic Nearshore Environment: A System Defined by Complex Hydrological and Biogeochemical Linkages and Feedbacks

Kenneth H. Dunton^1
1Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX, 78373, USA, Phone 361-749-6744, Fax 361-749-6917, dunton@utmsi.utexas.edu

The nearshore zone of the Arctic Ocean represents a dynamic and physical boundary between arctic coastal plain watersheds and the arctic shelf. The exchange of water, nutrients, and organic materials at the coastal boundary has a distinct effect on the productivity and structure of the nearshore shelf ecosystem. The lateral exchanges of carbon, nutrients, and other materials are largely controlled by distinct physical processes that include coastal erosion, the timing and magnitude of river discharge, sea ice distribution, ice-retreat and break-up, and wind direction. The role of these physical events in regulating biogeochemical processes has often been underestimated. For example, recent studies have concluded that contributions of sediment through coastal erosion may equal (Laptev Sea) or exceed riverine input by sevenfold (Alaska Beaufort Sea). The biogeochemical transformation and ultimate fate of this material during its transfer from terrestrial watersheds to the nearshore zone is not well understood. However, the huge influx allocthonous matter to the nearshore zone provides a focus for the study of nearshore food chains and the efficiency in which C, N, and other constituents are incorporated into consumer organisms. The diversity of marine and terrestrial organisms in nearshore communities are largely defined by the biogeochemical linkages between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, which vary considerably over both spatial and temporal scales. The role of these processes and the hydrological feedbacks between shelf waters and the adjacent terrestrial watersheds is important to our understanding of this complex and highly physical interface between land and ocean. Such knowledge is critical to our ability to predict the impacts of environmental change to indigenous populations of the Arctic Region.

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