With declining sea ice conditions in Arctic regions owing to changing climate, the large prospective reservoirs of oil and gas in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait are increasingly accessible, and the interest in offshore exploration and shipping through these regions has increased. Both of these activities are associated with the risk of @entity7294 releases into the marine ecosystem. However, @entity9436 are also present naturally in marine environments, in some cases deriving from oil seeps. We have analyzed @entity7294 concentrations in eleven sediment cores collected from northern Baffin Bay during 2008 and 2009 Amundsen expeditions and have examined the @entity7294 compositions in both pre- and post-industrial periods (i.e., before and after 1900) to assess the sources of @entity9436 , and their temporal and spatial variabilities. Concentrations of   @entity2556 ranged from 341 to 2693ngg(-1) dw, with concentrations in cores from sites within the North Water (NOW) Polynya generally higher. Individual @entity2556 concentrations did not exceed concentrations of concern for marine aquatic life, with one exception found in a core collected within the NOW (one of the seven sediment core samples). @entity7294 biomarkers, including @entity2292 profiles, OEP (odd-to-even preference), and TAR (terrigenous/aquatic ratios) values indicated that organic @entity505 at all sites is derived from both terrigenous higher plants and marine algae, the former being of greater significance at coastal sites, and the latter at the deepest sites at the southern boundary of the NOW. Biomarker ratios and chemical profiles indicate that petrogenic sources dominate over combustion sources, and thus long-range atmospheric transport is less significant than inputs from weathering. Present-day and historic pre-1900 @entity7294 concentrations exhibited less than an order of magnitude difference for most compounds at all sites. The dataset presented here provides a baseline record of @entity7294 concentrations in Baffin Bay sediments in advance of offshore exploration and increased shipping activities.

Spatial, temporal, and source variations of XXXX in marine sediments from Baffin Bay, Eastern Canadian Arctic.

@entity9436 :: ('MESH:D006838', 'Chemical') :: ['hydrocarbons'] @entity7294 :: ('CHEBI:24632', 'Chemical') :: ['Hydrocarbon', 'hydrocarbon'] @entity2556 :: ('CHEBI:33848', 'Chemical') :: ['PAHs', 'PAH'] @entity505 :: ('MESH:D002244', 'Chemical') :: ['carbon'] @entity2292 :: ('CHEBI:18310', 'Chemical') :: ['alkane']
@entity9436 :: (MESH:D006838,Chemical) :: ['hydrocarbons']
