Biomarkers as Sea Ice Tracers for the Western Canadian Arctic

Abstract

This project aims to retrace the glacial evolution of the Western Canadian Arctic by quantifying biomarkers in sediment cores. Biomarkers serve as a proxy to derive the amount of sea ice from the sediment record. This project involves the delicate chemical extraction of ice cover biomarker IP-25 and ice free biomarker Brassicasterol to generate a ratio, PIP-25 (percent of IP-25 to Brassicasterol), approximating sea ice cover within a certain time period. This groundbreaking research is the first of its kind in the Canadian Arctic, and the sediment core recovered this past August is the first ever from the region (M'Clure Strait). MacEwan University has exclusive access to this sediment core. This project is important to international research, as the M'Clure Strait has never been examined geologically. This research can elucidate the ice sheet development of the region, which connects the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic through the Northwest Passage, crucial to oceanography research.

Discipline: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Furze