Sinking export of organic material was investigated during the fall of 2007, using free-drifting, short-term particle interceptor traps . The particle interceptor traps were deployed at 6 stations along a transect spanning between the North Water polynya (Baffin Bay) and the Beaufort Sea. The traps were deployed from the CCGS Amundsen at three depths below the euphotic zone (50, 100 and 150 m) for a period between 8 and 22 hours. The analyses on the sinking material included total chlorophyll a and phaopigments (fluorometric determination), particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, biogenic silica, cell composition and abundance and fecal pellet abundance.

Free-drifting, short-term particle interceptor traps were deployed from the CCGS Amundsen on eight occasions between 23 September and 16 October 2005. The traps were deployed at two or three depths below the euphotic zone (from 25 to 150 m) for 8 to 20 h. The sinking material was analyzed for particulate inorganic carbon, particulate and dissolved organic carbon, biogenic and lithogenic silica and chlorophyll a concentrations. Phytoplankton abundance and composition, fecal pellet abundance and biovolume and bacterial abundances were also assessed for the sinking material. Water column samples, from depths between 10 and 150 m, were collected to quantify fecal pellets. Lastly, phytoplankton from the deep chlorophyll maximum depth was collected and their sinking velocity determined using settling columns.

Sinking export of organic material was investigated during the fall of 2006, using free-drifting, short-term particle interceptor traps . The particle interceptor traps were deployed at 9 stations along a transect spanning between the North Water polynya (Baffin Bay) and the Beaufort Sea. The traps were deployed from the CCGS Amundsen at three depths below the euphotic zone (50, 100 and 150 m) for a period between 8 and 29 hours. The analyses on the sinking material included total chlorophyll a and phaopigments (fluorometric determination), particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, biogenic silica, cell composition and abundance and fecal pellet abundance.