Zooplankton samples were collected onboard the research Icebreaker CCGS Amundsen during Leg 1 in 2005 (4 stations) and Leg 1 in 2006 (8 stations) with a vertically towed net frame equipped with a set of 4 adjacent 1-m2 nets (mesh size 200 µm and 500 µm) from near the bottom to the surface and by trawling an oblique rectangular mid-water trawl (mesh size 1600 µm) or an oblique Tucker net (mesh size 2x500 µm) in the surface layer from 100 m depth to the surface. Samples were placed into 30 ml plastic vials and/or whirl-pak bags and were kept frozen at -20 Degree Celcius. Representative sub-samples of individual zooplankton genera were placed in 4 ml glass vials for stable isotope analysis. Three keystone zooplankton genus were included in this study: Calanus spp. (mostly adult Calanus hyperboreus), Themisto spp. (mostly adult Themisto libellula) and Euchaeta spp. THg analysis was conducted at the Freshwater Institute with cold vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy (CVAAS). MMHg analysis was conducted at the University of Ottawa by Gas Chromatography Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy (GCAFS). Carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses were performed at the University of Winnipeg Isotope Laboratory by continuous flow ion ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS). Oceanographic data (Hg levels in water column, salinity, 18O) were collected by our team. Water samples were collected with 24 12-L Niskin bottles attached to a rosette sampler equipped with Seabird 911+ CTD (Sea-Bird)

This dataset consists of continuous records of downwelling irradiances at several UVR (305, 313, 320, 340 and 380nm) and PAR wavelengths, from September to November 2003 and from June to August 2004. The GUV-510 surface radiometer (Biospherical Instruments), mounted on the top of the wheelhouse of the CCGS Amundsen, provided a measure of cosine-corrected downwelling irradiance in the UVR and PAR.

This dataset consists of vertical profiles of underwater downwelling irradiances at several UVR (305, 313, 320, 340 and 380nm) and PAR wavelengths, from June to August 2004. Vertical light profiles were performed using a PUV-511 underwater radiometer (Biospherical Instruments) that provides a measure of cosine-corrected downwelling irradiance in the UVR and PAR. Irradiances were corrected by the dark values and normalized to the ambient conditions at the beginning of the profile, using ambient values given by a GUV-510 surface radiometer (Biospherical Instruments) mounted on the top of the wheelhouse of the CCGS Amundsen.

Samples were collected during the Malina programme at 8 sites ranging in water depth from 47 m to 577 m in July and August 2009 onboard the icebreaker CCGS Amundsen. At each sampling station, an USNEL box corer (50 cm×50 cm×30 cm) was deployed for seafloor sediment collection. From each box core, 3 sub-cores of 10 cm diameter and approximately 20 cm sediment depth were taken for assessing benthic oxygen demand and nutrient remineralisation in microcosm incubations. Six additional sub-cores of 2.4 cm diameter were taken, three of 8 cm and 1 cm length, respectively, for determining sediment pigment concentration, water content and sediment solid phase composition.

First-year sea ice was sampled on 36 occasions near the overwintering site of the CCGS Amundsen during the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES). Sea-ice and associated surface water samples were taken every 3 to 5 days between 24 February and 20 June 2004. Surface waters and the bottom 3-5 cm of ice cores were routinely analyzed for: salinity, pH, nutrients (NH4, NO2, NO3, Si(OH)4, and PO4), dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen (DOC, DON), exopolymeric substances (EPS), particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), particulate organic carbon and nitrogen (POC, PON), total and >5 µm chlorophyll a and phaeopigments, bacterial abundances/biomass, protist (excluding diatoms) abundances/biomass and ice algal/phytoplankton taxonomy. This data set also includes vertical and spatial profiles of ice algal distribution as well as measurements of sea-ice primary production, bacterivory and sea-ice algal and bacterial sinking velocities.

Our sampling program took place from August 27, 2009 through September 12, 2009. It was part of Leg 3a of the 2009 CCGS Amundsen Expedition in the Arctic Ocean (ArcticNet 0903). Sampling started in the Mackenzie River delta and continued into the Beaufort Sea (Shelf, slope and deep Canada Basin). Various measurements (temperature, salinity, nutrients, alkalinity, pH, primary production, bacterial production) and sampling (seawater, marine particles) were conducted at 10 stations. Underway measurements (temperature, salinity, trace gases) and sampling (marine particles) were also conducted along the cruise track. Sampling tools on stations were the ship's CTD/rosette (ArcticNet), a Trace-Metal CTD/rosette system (UVic / UBC) and large volume in-situ pumps (UBC). We conducted measurements and collected samples to document a suite of key physical (temperature, salinity, ice cover, light penetration), chemical (nutrients, trace metals, trace gases, radioisotopes, stable isotopes) and biological (phytoplankton and microbial assemblages, primary and microbial productivity, trace metal phytoplankton quotas) parameters in relation to proximity to the Mackenzie River delta, seafloor bathymetry and ice cover to elucidate the processes influencing phytoplankton growth and carbon cycling in the Arctic Ocean. In particular, we collected samples to study the processes which supply and remove trace metals, nutrients and carbon to and from the upper ocean, and conducted ship-board experiments to study how biological productivity is affected by various chemical and physical conditions. Through a combination of on-board measurements, experiments and subsequent laboratory analysis, our research program aims at: (i) documenting the pathways of addition, removal and cycling of key trace elements which act as biological micronutrients or tracers of carbon and nutrient cycles in the Arctic Ocean; (ii) elucidating the potential effects of changing ice cover and river discharge on productivity, carbon sequestration and trace gas emission in the Arctic Ocean; (iii) developing chemical tracers to establish a historical sedimentary record of Arctic Ocean productivity in relation to long term natural climate change.