Groundwater as a major source of dissolved organic matter to Arctic coastal waters

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Connolly, Craig T., Cardenas, M. Bayani, Burkart, Greta A., Spencer, Robert G. M., McClelland, James W.
• Other Authors: National Science Foundation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
• Subjects: General Physics and Astronomy; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Chemistry; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Beaufort Sea; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15250-8; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15250-8.pdf; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15250-8

Abstract Groundwater is projected to become an increasing source of freshwater and nutrients to the Arctic Ocean as permafrost thaws, yet few studies have quantified groundwater inputs to Arctic coastal waters under contemporary conditions. New measurements along the Alaska Beaufort Sea coast show that dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen (DOC and DON) concentrations in supra-permafrost groundwater (SPGW) near the land-sea interface are up to two orders of magnitude higher than in rivers. This dissolved organic matter (DOM) is sourced from readily leachable organic matter in surface soils and deeper centuries-to millennia-old soils that extend into thawing permafrost. SPGW delivers approximately 400–2100 m 3 of freshwater, 14–71 kg of DOC, and 1–4 kg of DON to the coastal ocean per km of shoreline per day during late summer. These substantial fluxes are expected to increase as massive stocks of frozen organic matter in permafrost are liberated in a warming Arctic.