Glimpses of Arctic Ocean shelf–basin interaction from submarine-borne radium sampling

Evidence of shelf-water transfer from temperature, salinity, and 228Ra/226Ra sampling from the nuclear submarine USS L. Mendel Rivers SCICEX cruise in October, 2000 demonstrates the heterogeneity of the Arctic Ocean with respect to halocline ventilation. This likely reflects both time-dependent events on the shelves and the variety of dispersal mechanisms within the ocean, including boundary currents and eddies, at least one of which was sampled in this work. Halocline waters at the 132 m sampling depth in the interior Eurasian Basin are generally not well connected to the shelves, consonant with their ventilation within the deep basins, rather than on the shelves. In the western Arctic, steep gradients in 228Ra/226Ra ratio and age since shelf contact are consistent with very slow exchange between the Chukchi shelf and the interior Beaufort Gyre. These are the first radium measurements from a nuclear submarine.