The potential transport of pollutants by Arctic sea ice

S. L. Pfirman; H. Eicken; D. Bauch; W. F. Weeks

doi:10.1016/0048-9697(95)04174-Y

The potential transport of pollutants by Arctic sea ice

S. L. Pfirman, H. Eicken, D. Bauch, W. F. Weeks

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

156 Scopus citations

Abstract

Drifting sea ice in the Arctic may transport contaminants from coastal areas across the pole and release them during melting far from the source areas. Arctic sea ice often contains sediments entrained on the Siberian shelves and receives atmospheric deposition from Arctic haze. Elevated levels of some heavy metals (e.g. lead, iron, copper and cadmium) and organochlorines (e.g. PCBs and DDTs) have been observed in ice sampled in the Siberian seas, north of Svalbard, and in Baffin Bay. In order to determine the relative importance of sea ice transport in comparison with air/sea and oceanic processes, more data is required on pollutant entrainment and distribution in the Arctic ice pack.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	129-146
Number of pages	18
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	159
Issue number	2-3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(95)04174-Y
State	Published - Jan 10 1995
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Arctic
Contamination
Ecosystem
Pollution
Sea ice
Transport

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution

Access to Document

10.1016/0048-9697(95)04174-Y

Cite this

@article{9318f8fb83224b23a440b815741462b8,

title = "The potential transport of pollutants by Arctic sea ice",

abstract = "Drifting sea ice in the Arctic may transport contaminants from coastal areas across the pole and release them during melting far from the source areas. Arctic sea ice often contains sediments entrained on the Siberian shelves and receives atmospheric deposition from Arctic haze. Elevated levels of some heavy metals (e.g. lead, iron, copper and cadmium) and organochlorines (e.g. PCBs and DDTs) have been observed in ice sampled in the Siberian seas, north of Svalbard, and in Baffin Bay. In order to determine the relative importance of sea ice transport in comparison with air/sea and oceanic processes, more data is required on pollutant entrainment and distribution in the Arctic ice pack.",

keywords = "Arctic, Contamination, Ecosystem, Pollution, Sea ice, Transport",

author = "Pfirman, {S. L.} and H. Eicken and D. Bauch and Weeks, {W. F.}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported in part by NSF grant DPP-9196035. “0 analyses of Barents Sea ice cores were carried out in the laboratory of R. Fairbanks, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. We thank Derek Muir for his comments on an early version of the manuscript.",

year = "1995",

month = jan,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1016/0048-9697(95)04174-Y",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "159",

pages = "129--146",

journal = "Science of the Total Environment",

issn = "0048-9697",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "2-3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The potential transport of pollutants by Arctic sea ice

AU - Pfirman, S. L.

AU - Eicken, H.

AU - Bauch, D.

AU - Weeks, W. F.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported in part by NSF grant DPP-9196035. “0 analyses of Barents Sea ice cores were carried out in the laboratory of R. Fairbanks, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. We thank Derek Muir for his comments on an early version of the manuscript.

PY - 1995/1/10

Y1 - 1995/1/10

N2 - Drifting sea ice in the Arctic may transport contaminants from coastal areas across the pole and release them during melting far from the source areas. Arctic sea ice often contains sediments entrained on the Siberian shelves and receives atmospheric deposition from Arctic haze. Elevated levels of some heavy metals (e.g. lead, iron, copper and cadmium) and organochlorines (e.g. PCBs and DDTs) have been observed in ice sampled in the Siberian seas, north of Svalbard, and in Baffin Bay. In order to determine the relative importance of sea ice transport in comparison with air/sea and oceanic processes, more data is required on pollutant entrainment and distribution in the Arctic ice pack.

AB - Drifting sea ice in the Arctic may transport contaminants from coastal areas across the pole and release them during melting far from the source areas. Arctic sea ice often contains sediments entrained on the Siberian shelves and receives atmospheric deposition from Arctic haze. Elevated levels of some heavy metals (e.g. lead, iron, copper and cadmium) and organochlorines (e.g. PCBs and DDTs) have been observed in ice sampled in the Siberian seas, north of Svalbard, and in Baffin Bay. In order to determine the relative importance of sea ice transport in comparison with air/sea and oceanic processes, more data is required on pollutant entrainment and distribution in the Arctic ice pack.

KW - Arctic

KW - Contamination

KW - Ecosystem

KW - Pollution

KW - Sea ice

KW - Transport

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028977678&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0028977678&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/0048-9697(95)04174-Y

DO - 10.1016/0048-9697(95)04174-Y

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0028977678

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 159

SP - 129

EP - 146

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

IS - 2-3

ER -

The potential transport of pollutants by Arctic sea ice

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this