New observations of the distribution, morphology and dissolution dynamics of cryogenic gypsum in the Arctic Ocean

Wollenburg, Jutta E.; Iversen, Morten; Katlein, Christian; Krumpen, Thomas; Nicolaus, Marcel; Castellani, Giulia; Peeken, Ilka; Flores, Hauke

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1795-2020

Articles | Volume 14, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1795-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1795-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 6

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

04 Jun 2020

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 04 Jun 2020

New observations of the distribution, morphology and dissolution dynamics of cryogenic gypsum in the Arctic Ocean

Jutta E. Wollenburg, Morten Iversen, Christian Katlein, Thomas Krumpen, Marcel Nicolaus, Giulia Castellani, Ilka Peeken, and Hauke Flores

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1795-2020-supplement

Data sets

Cryogenic gypsum collected during PS106-1/2 in 2017 J. E. Wollenburg and M. H. Iversen https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.916035

Short summary

Based on an observed omnipresence of gypsum crystals, we concluded that their release from melting sea ice is a general feature in the Arctic Ocean. Individual gypsum crystals sank at more than 7000 m d⁻¹, suggesting that they are an important ballast mineral. Previous observations found gypsum inside phytoplankton aggregates at 2000 m depth, supporting gypsum as an important driver for pelagic-benthic coupling in the ice-covered Arctic Ocean.