Sea ice and argon

Abstract

1) Atmospheric argon on Earth and Mars cycles on a seasonal basis and abiotic factors will be particularly important drivers of this noble gas. 2) It is predicted and confirmed that there is similarity in the seasonality of sea ice and argon, with atmospheric argon in a Hemisphere often increasing fastest when sea ice in that Hemisphere is declining fastest. 3) There is some visual similarity between the detailed phenology of Greenland Sea ice extent and argon in some Northern Hemisphere sites, but formal analysis is required. 4) If causal, the mechanism is unclear but could involve argon bubble formation during freezing and bubble release in the spring melt. 5) Other variables with very similar phenology to sea ice, including high-latitude sea temperatures, should be investigated as potential drivers. 6) Cycling of argon by sea ice would strengthen the argument that seasonal cycling of carbon dioxide is in part driven abiotically.