Concentration, Composition, and Fluxes of Dispersed Sedimentary Material in the Snow and Ice Cover of the Polar Arctic

Abstract

Abstract—Dispersed sedimentary material in the snow and ice cover is directly determined near the North Pole. The composition of sedimentary material in the snow and ice cover was studied at the maximum distance from continents in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, and the vertical fluxes of material from the underice layer were determined. These data were obtained using sediment traps; for snow and ice, using large volumes of melt water. It was found that dispersed aeolian sedimentary material is of primary importance in snow and sea ice.