Discovery of authigenic carbonates in the Canada Basin (Arctic Ocean) and its implications

Abstract

Carbonate minerals were discovered from the giant box core (PS72/410-1) of the pelagic sediments recovered from the Canadian Arctic across the central Mendeleev Ridge (Station location= Lat. 80°30.37N, Long. 175°44.38W) during the Arctic cruise by Polarstern in 2008. The core was 39 cm in depth and was collected from the water depth of 1802 meters. The sediments show various colors from grey to brown as previously reported in other Arctic pelagic sediments. The sediments include planktonic foraminifers together with carbonate minerals. The contents of planktonic foraminifers and carbonate minerals vary with core depth, however these carbonate minerals are present through the whole sequence except for a few centimeters. After wet sieving, coarse fractions were texturally examined with binocular microscope and SEM, and stable isotope compositions were obtained.