Breaking the Ice: Glacier Melting Alters Arctic Fjord Ecosystems
Arctic Polar Bear Shield. Image Credit: Claudia Schmidt / hereon
The regions of the Arctic are particularly vulnerable to climate change. However, there is a lack of comprehensive scientific information about the environmental changes there. Researchers from the Helmholtz Center Hereon have now examined inorganic carbon components, nutrients and trace elements in fjord systems. The result: the melting glacier ice is changing the chemical composition of the water in the fjords, causing ecosystems to become unbalanced. The study was recently published in the journal “Global Biogeochemical Cycles”.
Impact of Freshwater Inflow from Glaciers
The case study is based on an expedition to Kongsfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen and the German-French research station Arctic Research Base Ny-Ålesund (AWIPEV) located there. Researcher Claudia Schmidt from the Hereon Institute for Carbon Cycles investigated how freshwater runoff from glaciers affects the overall concentration of nutrients, trace elements and carbon parameters in the Arctic fjord. She took water samples along the fjord axis and from rivers and identified biogeochemical changes in the water near the coast.
The inflow of freshwater forms a barrier layer on the highly saline fjord water, which changes the circulation of the water masses and the distribution of nutrients and trace elements. One consequence could be that less phytoplankton, which is the basis of the marine food chain, forms. Its presence affects many creatures in the ocean, influences biodiversity and, very significantly, CO2 sequestration. A possible decline would reduce the absorption and storage of the greenhouse gas CO2.
A campaign with great commitment
The samples were taken together with the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). The researchers filtered the water in a laboratory on Spitsbergen and later analyzed it in Geesthacht and Bremerhaven. The 2020 expedition was part of the project “Arctic biodiversity change and its consequences: Assessing, monitoring, and predicting the effects of ecosystem tipping cascades on marine ecosystem services and dependent human systems”, or ECOTIP for short, in which a total of 16 research institutions from 10 countries have been involved in an interdisciplinary manner over the past 4 years. It was funded by the EU as part of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. Hereon received 700,000 euros.
Expert Contacts
Claudia Schmidt
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
Institute for Carbon Cycles
Email ID: claudia.schmidt@hereon.de
Prof. Dr. Helmuth Thomas
Institute for Carbon Cycles
Head of Department
Email ID: helmuth.thomas@hereon.de
Original Publication
C. E. Schmidt, D. Pröfrock, G. Steinhoefel, T. Stichel, C. Mears, L. M. Wehrmann, H. Thomas
Journal: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Article Title: The Contrasting Role of Marine- and Land-Terminating Glaciers on Biogeochemical Cycles in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard
Article Publication Date: 06 January 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB008087
Media Contact
Max-Planck-Straße 1
21502 Geesthacht
Germany
Schleswig-Holstein
Dr. Torsten Fischer
Head of Communications and Media Department
Phone Number: 04152 87-1677
Fax: 04152-87 1640
Email ID: presse@hereon.de
Source: IDW
Media Contact
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