Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland
An influx of glacial meltwater has the ability to alter the properties of marine surface waters and their ability to exchange CO2 through changes to water column stratification and the inorganic carbon system. Here, we report how inputs of meteoric water affect the physical and biogeochemical proper...
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University of California Press
2021
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crunicaliforniap:10.1525/elementa.2021.00004 2024-04-07T07:52:37+00:00 Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland Geilfus, Nicolas-Xavier Munson, Kathleen Lemes, Marcos Wang, Feiyue Tison, Jean-Louis Rysgaard, Søren 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00004 https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.2021.00004/485111/elementa.2021.00004.pdf en eng University of California Press http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene volume 9, issue 1 ISSN 2325-1026 Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography journal-article 2021 crunicaliforniap https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00004 2024-03-08T03:46:51Z An influx of glacial meltwater has the ability to alter the properties of marine surface waters and their ability to exchange CO2 through changes to water column stratification and the inorganic carbon system. Here, we report how inputs of meteoric water affect the physical and biogeochemical properties of both the water column and the sea ice cover on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland, during spring 2015. The observed depleted δ18O–H2O in the water column, with surface water values as low as –16.3 ‰, suggests a strong input of meteoric water (i.e., water derived from atmospheric precipitation). Depleted δ18O–H2O observed within sea ice (from –21.5 to –8.0 ‰) reflects its formation from surface water that was already depleted isotopically. In addition, a thick snow cover, as present during the study, promotes the formation of snow ice as well as insulates the ice cover. Within sea ice, the resulting relatively warm temperature and low salinity impedes ikaite formation. However, measurements of total dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity indicate that, in both sea ice and the water column, the dissolution of calcium carbonate was the main process affecting the carbonate system. This finding suggests that inputs of glacial meltwater deliver glacier-derived carbonate minerals to the ocean which become incorporated within the ice structure, increasing calcium carbonate dissolution in the water column in the absence of ikaite precipitation within the sea ice. If widespread in glacial-fed waters, bedrock carbonate minerals could increase CO2 sequestration in glacial catchments despite the weakening of the sea ice carbon pump. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Sea ice Wandel Sea University of California Press Greenland Wandel ENVELOPE(-64.000,-64.000,-65.083,-65.083) Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 9 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California Press |
op_collection_id |
crunicaliforniap |
language |
English |
topic |
Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography Geilfus, Nicolas-Xavier Munson, Kathleen Lemes, Marcos Wang, Feiyue Tison, Jean-Louis Rysgaard, Søren Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland |
topic_facet |
Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography |
description |
An influx of glacial meltwater has the ability to alter the properties of marine surface waters and their ability to exchange CO2 through changes to water column stratification and the inorganic carbon system. Here, we report how inputs of meteoric water affect the physical and biogeochemical properties of both the water column and the sea ice cover on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland, during spring 2015. The observed depleted δ18O–H2O in the water column, with surface water values as low as –16.3 ‰, suggests a strong input of meteoric water (i.e., water derived from atmospheric precipitation). Depleted δ18O–H2O observed within sea ice (from –21.5 to –8.0 ‰) reflects its formation from surface water that was already depleted isotopically. In addition, a thick snow cover, as present during the study, promotes the formation of snow ice as well as insulates the ice cover. Within sea ice, the resulting relatively warm temperature and low salinity impedes ikaite formation. However, measurements of total dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity indicate that, in both sea ice and the water column, the dissolution of calcium carbonate was the main process affecting the carbonate system. This finding suggests that inputs of glacial meltwater deliver glacier-derived carbonate minerals to the ocean which become incorporated within the ice structure, increasing calcium carbonate dissolution in the water column in the absence of ikaite precipitation within the sea ice. If widespread in glacial-fed waters, bedrock carbonate minerals could increase CO2 sequestration in glacial catchments despite the weakening of the sea ice carbon pump. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Geilfus, Nicolas-Xavier Munson, Kathleen Lemes, Marcos Wang, Feiyue Tison, Jean-Louis Rysgaard, Søren |
author_facet |
Geilfus, Nicolas-Xavier Munson, Kathleen Lemes, Marcos Wang, Feiyue Tison, Jean-Louis Rysgaard, Søren |
author_sort |
Geilfus, Nicolas-Xavier |
title |
Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland |
title_short |
Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland |
title_full |
Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the Wandel Sea shelf, northeastern Greenland |
title_sort |
meteoric water contribution to sea ice formation and its control of the surface water carbonate cycle on the wandel sea shelf, northeastern greenland |
publisher |
University of California Press |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00004 https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.1525/elementa.2021.00004/485111/elementa.2021.00004.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.000,-64.000,-65.083,-65.083) |
geographic |
Greenland Wandel |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Wandel |
genre |
glacier Greenland Sea ice Wandel Sea |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Sea ice Wandel Sea |
op_source |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene volume 9, issue 1 ISSN 2325-1026 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00004 |
container_title |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1795668039610400768 |