Bottom water (20 L per station) was collected at 11 stations in Baffin Bay using the CCGS Amundsen’s rosette system. Water was filtered aboard the vessel into glass microfiber (GF-F) filters for Carbon and Nitrogen stable isotopic composition analysis. These data will be used in combination with data on soft coral stable isotopic composition collected from the same region.

Coral samples were collected in Pond Inlet and Lancaster Sound in Baffin Bay using the CCGS Amundsen’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Samples from Agassiz trawl and box-core deployments were also kept as part of this study (11 stations). Samples were collected between 253 and 856 m. Specimens were subsampled aboard and frozen for determination of their carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic composition, as well as for lipids and fatty acids composition, as part of a study focusing on the trophic ecology of cold-water corals. Carbon and Nitrogen stable isotope analysis as well as lipids/fatty acids analysis were performed on tissue samples of soft corals at the Stable Isotopes Laboratory and Lipids Laboratory, Memorial University, respectively.

We are seeking answers to two key questions regarding the influence of marine processes on Arctic climate: 1) How will the increased flow of Pacific waters through the Canadian Archipelago affect the dynamics of climate-active gases in the ocean, and 2) How will these gases be affected by a reduction of sea-ice cover, and increased areas of open water? These questions have been addressed by our multidisciplinary team during two expeditions on the Canadian research ice-breaker Amundsen as part of the International Polar Year. The expeditions took place during the fall of 2007 and 2008. Eleven (2007) and ten (2008) Arctic SOLAS scientists from 7 Canadian institutions participated to these expeditions which allowed a unique and extensive longitudinal survey of these trace gases and aerosols in the High Canadian Arctic, from Baffin Bay to the Beaufort Sea. The missions enabled us to collect new oceanographic and atmospheric data on the distribution and cycling of DMS, N2O, and VOCs across the Canadian Archipelago and to relate these measurements to the distribution and chemical characteristics of aerosol particles. Activities of this program where coordinated with those of the IPY programs CFL, the Canadian program ArcticNet, and the international programs OASIS and SOLAS.