Science Reports
More important, however, is the ocean's role as a receptor for contaminants
Sediment trap
being lowered into
carried northward by major geochemical transport mechanisms involving the
the water to collect
atmosphere, rivers, sediment, sea ice and currents. Little is known about sources,
samples for con-
taminant chemistry
background levels, transport pathways and residence times of the various con-
studies.
taminants. Obtaining information on the levels of a variety of contaminants
in the atmosphere, ice, ocean and sediments was the focus of the AOS-94
contaminants program.
AOS-94 was truly multidisciplinary. Fifty individual research programs were
pursued, and the expedition indeed sampled across the entire Arctic Ocean.
The word "section" implies measurements of the seafloor, ocean, ice and atmo-
sphere--a slice from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean.
The major disciplinary efforts and their major objectives were:
Ocean Circulation and Geochemistry
Hydrographic surveys and geochemical sampling to improve our under-
standing of Arctic Ocean circulation and water mass structure.
Biology and the Carbon Cycle
Measurement of standing stocks and production rates of the dominant
organisms and their relation to the distribution of particulate and dis-
solved carbon and nitrogen.
Ecology of Marine Mammals
Studies of the distribution, migration, population dynamics, genetic his-
tory and food chains of polar bears and other marine mammals.
Contaminants
Trans-Arctic sampling of atmosphere, snow, ice, water column and sea
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