The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is pleased to announce the outstanding poster presentation award winners from the 2012 Arctic Frontiers Conference. Winners were evaluated from over 50 early career poster submissions based on the content of the poster, presentation and appearance, and the context and connection of the research to other fields of science and society. We would like to thank the many evaluators and Jennifer Provencher and Jenny Baeseman for coordinating these efforts. All of this year's recipients are APECS members.
This year's recipients will receive free registration to a future Arctic Frontiers conference. Awards were presented at the Science Banquet during the conference together with a humorous presentation on what the polar regions 'might' be like when these outstanding young scholars are the leaders of the Arctic research community.
Matthias Forwick - Fluid Flow Features in the Spitsbergen Fjords
Forwick M*, Baeten N J*, Vorren T*
*University of Tromsø, Department of Geology, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway, Matthias.Forwick@uit.no
The investigation of fluid flow from the sub-seafloor in the Norwegian sector of the Arctic has mainly focussed on studies carried out the continental shelves and slopes of the Barents Sea and Svalbard. However, swath bathymetry and high-resolution seismic data from the fjords on Svalbard reveal numerous pockmarks, indicating that fluid flow (seepage of thermogenic gas and pore water) has taken place - or probably is taking place - there, too. The largest pockmarks identified so far are up to 250 m wide and 13 m deep. Their formation started most probably shortly after the retreat of grounded ice from the fjords.
We suggest that factors controlling the distribution of pockmarks in Spitsbergen fjords include: 1) tectonic lineaments, 2) the lithological composition and lateral sub-crop of bedrock and 3) the orientation of glacial lineations.
Anna Dustira - Geochemical Variations in Permian Spiculitic Chert from Svalbard
Dustira A M*, Blomeier D**, Vihtakari M**,***,****
*Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway, anna.dustira@uit.no
**Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
***Faculty of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
****Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
Massive sedimentary chert deposits of the Kapp Starostin Formation (Tempelfjorden Group) are prominent features of Permian deposits in Svalbard, and are directly correlatable to corresponding deposits in the Barents Sea (Finnmark Platform and Stappen High). A better understanding of facies distribution, facies characteristics and depositional environments of Permian sediments on Svalbard is an important step towards understanding Late Paleozoic basin development across the Barents Sea. This study uses geochemical analysis of Permian chert facies from central and northeastern Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet to better understand and quantify the compositional differences between dark and light chert facies. Using the geochemical attributes of the cherts in the interpretation of depositional environments can improve our existing depositional model for the Permian. Svalbard was located near the Barents Sea (Finnmark Platform and Stappen High), East Greenland (Wandel Sea Basin), Arctic Canada (Sverdrup Basin) and Russia (Timan-Pechora Basin) off the northern margin of Pangea during the Permian, at approximately 45°N latitude in a temperate- to cool marine depositional setting. Siliceous sponge spicules from an abundant sponge fauna comprise the main chert component. Dark chert facies have been found associated more with dark shales and mudstone, whereas light cherts tend to be fossiliferous (brachiopod, bryozoan and echinoderm fossil assemblages), often have higher carbonate content, and are associated with glauconitic sandstones. Samples of dark and light chert facies within the Kapp Starostin Fm were taken from 10 localities across Svalbard, from relatively distal to proximal settings within the depositional basin. From bulk samples, 22 trace elements were measured using XRF; Leco-analysis was performed to obtain total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC) and total sulfur (TS) values. A correspondence analysis was performed to determine the potential factors influencing trace element and carbon content of the cherts, i.e. whether facies type (dark vs. light chert) or sample locality (positioning within the depositional basin) explain the geochemical composition of the cherts. Preliminary results indicate clear geochemical differences between dark and light cherts, as well as some geochemical differences amongst localities. Dark cherts are enriched in trace elements, such as Ba, Co and Rb, and in TOC, which is an indication of mud content. Light cherts are richer in Sr, Ce and TC, which indicates the fossiliferous origin of these cherts. However, some elements are susceptible to modification during diagenesis, thus care must be taken to separate diagenetic signals from primary signals.
Honorable Mention: Mikko Vihtakari - Does bivalve shell mineralogy reflect environmental conditions in the Arctic?
Vihtakari Mikko*,**,***, Ambrose William G. Jr**,****, Renaud Paul**,*****, Locke William****, Cottier Finlo******, Carroll Michael**, Berge Jørgen*,*****
* Faculty of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway, mikko.vihtakari@uit.no
** Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
*** Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
**** Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA
***** University Centre in Svalbard, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
****** Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, Argyll, UK
Rapid environmental change and expanding commercial activities make environmental monitoring of the Arctic seas increasingly important. Satellites and oceanographic moorings have greatly expanded monitoring capabilities, but the data they collect are often spatially and temporally limited. Animals can be used as tools to complement the instrumental record. Bivalves are sessile, long-lived organisms and mineralogy of their shells offers a potential to reconstruct environmental history. Trace elements derived from seawater are incorporated into the shell matrix and standardized mineral ratios may reflect ecosystem-relevant parameters (e.g. primary production, temperature, salinity, pollution, etc.) at the time of shell deposition.
Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), a method used to acquire element composition of solid samples, allows high resolution (<100um) sampling of shell material and is especially suitable for mineralogy studies of carbonates, such as bivalve shells. We present preliminary results of LA-ICP-MS analyses of two circumpolar bivalve species: the Greenland Cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) and the Hairy Cockle (Clinocardium ciliatum) after one- to two year-long exposures on oceanographic moorings in two Svalbard fjords. Our analysis covers a relatively large range in temperature, salinity, sea-ice conditions and timing of the spring bloom. Instruments on the moorings recorded water temperature, salinity and fluorescence (as a proxy for chlorophyll-a). This
allowed us to compare elemental profiles in shells with physical, chemical, and biological parameters of the water column
Barium occurred typically at near-zero levels across the year's shell accretion, but increased several hundred times over a short period once a year in all samples. The increase occurred shortly after the commencement of the annual growth (just proximal to the growth band), suggesting that it may have occurred in spring or early summer. Barium is often linked with sedimentation of phytoplankton blooms, which seems like a possible explanation for the abrupt peaks in our study. In some studies other mineral proxies (e.g. peaks in strontium, magnesium and manganese) have been associated with temperature, but typically in a complex manner with other factors such as salinity and ontogeny. By analyzing the temporal relationships of multiple geochemical proxies in concert, we hope to better understand how physical and biological processes in Arctic fjords are reflected in shells of bivalves.
