Atlantic water flow pathways revealed by lead contamination in Arctic basin sediments

Contaminant lead in sediments underlying boundary currents in the Arctic Oc ean provides an image of current organization and stability during the past 50 years. The sediment distributions of lead, stable lead isotope ratios, and lead-210 in the major Arctic Ocean basins reveal close coupling of the Eurasian Basin with the North Atlantic during the 20th century. They indica te that the Atlantic water boundary current in the Eurasian Basin has been a prominent pathway, that contaminant lead from the Laptev Sea supplies sur face water in the transpolar drift, and that the Canadian and Eurasian basi ns have been historically decoupled.