Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden
In the face of ongoing global warming and glacier retreat, the composition and flux of organic matter in glacier–fjord systems are key variables for updating the carbon cycle and budget, whereas the role of Arctic valley glaciers seems unimportant when compared with the huge Greenland Ice Sheet. Our...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:bg31840 2023-05-15T14:56:41+02:00 Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden Zhu, Zhuo-Yi Wu, Ying Liu, Su-Mei Wenger, Fred Hu, Jun Zhang, Jing Zhang, Rui-Feng 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-975-2016 https://www.biogeosciences.net/13/975/2016/ eng eng doi:10.5194/bg-13-975-2016 https://www.biogeosciences.net/13/975/2016/ eISSN: 1726-4189 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-975-2016 2019-12-24T09:52:44Z In the face of ongoing global warming and glacier retreat, the composition and flux of organic matter in glacier–fjord systems are key variables for updating the carbon cycle and budget, whereas the role of Arctic valley glaciers seems unimportant when compared with the huge Greenland Ice Sheet. Our field observations of the glacier-fed Bayelva River, Svalbard, and the adjacent Kongsfjorden allowed us to determine the compositions of particulate organic matter from glacier to fjord and also to estimate the flux of organic carbon, both for the river and for Svalbard in general. Particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Bayelva River averaged 56 and 73 µM, respectively, in August, 2012. Amino acids (AAs) and phytoplankton carbon accounted for ∼ 10 % of the bulk POC in the Bayelva River, while AAs represented > 90 % of particulate nitrogen (PN) in fjord surface water, suggesting the strong in situ assimilation of organic matter. Bacteria accounted for 13 and 19 % of the POC in the Bayelva River and the Kongsfjorden, respectively, while values for PN were much higher (i.e., 36 % in Kongsfjorden). The total discharge from the Bayelva River in 2012 was 29 × 10 6 m 3 . Furthermore, we calculated the annual POC, DOC, and PN fluxes for the river as 20 ± 1.6 tons, 25 ± 5.6 tons, and 4.7 ± 0.75 tons, respectively. Using the POC content and DOC concentration data, we then estimated the annual POC and DOC fluxes for Svalbard glaciers. Although the estimated POC (0.056 ± 0.02 × 10 6 tons year −1 ) and DOC (0.02 ± 0.01 × 10 6 tons year −1 ) fluxes of Svalbard glaciers are small in amount, its discharge-weighted flux of DOC was over twice higher than other pan-Arctic glacier systems, suggesting its important role as a terrestrial DOC source. Text Arctic glacier glacier Global warming Greenland Ice Sheet Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Phytoplankton Svalbard Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Bayelva ENVELOPE(11.898,11.898,78.933,78.933) Greenland Svalbard Biogeosciences 13 4 975 987 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
In the face of ongoing global warming and glacier retreat, the composition and flux of organic matter in glacier–fjord systems are key variables for updating the carbon cycle and budget, whereas the role of Arctic valley glaciers seems unimportant when compared with the huge Greenland Ice Sheet. Our field observations of the glacier-fed Bayelva River, Svalbard, and the adjacent Kongsfjorden allowed us to determine the compositions of particulate organic matter from glacier to fjord and also to estimate the flux of organic carbon, both for the river and for Svalbard in general. Particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Bayelva River averaged 56 and 73 µM, respectively, in August, 2012. Amino acids (AAs) and phytoplankton carbon accounted for ∼ 10 % of the bulk POC in the Bayelva River, while AAs represented > 90 % of particulate nitrogen (PN) in fjord surface water, suggesting the strong in situ assimilation of organic matter. Bacteria accounted for 13 and 19 % of the POC in the Bayelva River and the Kongsfjorden, respectively, while values for PN were much higher (i.e., 36 % in Kongsfjorden). The total discharge from the Bayelva River in 2012 was 29 × 10 6 m 3 . Furthermore, we calculated the annual POC, DOC, and PN fluxes for the river as 20 ± 1.6 tons, 25 ± 5.6 tons, and 4.7 ± 0.75 tons, respectively. Using the POC content and DOC concentration data, we then estimated the annual POC and DOC fluxes for Svalbard glaciers. Although the estimated POC (0.056 ± 0.02 × 10 6 tons year −1 ) and DOC (0.02 ± 0.01 × 10 6 tons year −1 ) fluxes of Svalbard glaciers are small in amount, its discharge-weighted flux of DOC was over twice higher than other pan-Arctic glacier systems, suggesting its important role as a terrestrial DOC source. |
format |
Text |
author |
Zhu, Zhuo-Yi Wu, Ying Liu, Su-Mei Wenger, Fred Hu, Jun Zhang, Jing Zhang, Rui-Feng |
spellingShingle |
Zhu, Zhuo-Yi Wu, Ying Liu, Su-Mei Wenger, Fred Hu, Jun Zhang, Jing Zhang, Rui-Feng Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden |
author_facet |
Zhu, Zhuo-Yi Wu, Ying Liu, Su-Mei Wenger, Fred Hu, Jun Zhang, Jing Zhang, Rui-Feng |
author_sort |
Zhu, Zhuo-Yi |
title |
Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden |
title_short |
Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden |
title_full |
Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden |
title_fullStr |
Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in Arctic valley glaciers: examples from the Bayelva River and adjacent Kongsfjorden |
title_sort |
organic carbon flux and particulate organic matter composition in arctic valley glaciers: examples from the bayelva river and adjacent kongsfjorden |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-975-2016 https://www.biogeosciences.net/13/975/2016/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(11.898,11.898,78.933,78.933) |
geographic |
Arctic Bayelva Greenland Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bayelva Greenland Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic glacier glacier Global warming Greenland Ice Sheet Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Phytoplankton Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier glacier Global warming Greenland Ice Sheet Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Phytoplankton Svalbard |
op_source |
eISSN: 1726-4189 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/bg-13-975-2016 https://www.biogeosciences.net/13/975/2016/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-975-2016 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
975 |
op_container_end_page |
987 |
_version_ |
1766328771570302976 |