Mg and Li Stable Isotope Ratios of Rocks, Minerals, and Water in an Outlet Glacier of the Greenland Ice Sheet ...

• Main Authors: Hindshaw, Ruth S., Rickli, Jörg, Leuthold, Julien
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2019
• Subjects: chemical weathering; Leverett glacier; Mineral separates; Li isotopes; Mg isotopes; glacier; Greenland; Ice Sheet; Leverett Glacier
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000381697; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/381697

Magnesium and lithium stable isotope ratios (δ26Mg and δ7Li) have shown promise as tools to elucidate biogeochemical processes both at catchment scales and in deciphering global climate processes. Nevertheless, the controls on riverine Mg and Li isotope ratios are often difficult to determine as a myriad of factors can cause fractionation from bulk rock values such as secondary mineral formation and preferential weathering of isotopically distinct mineral phases. Quantifying the relative contribution from carbonate and silicate minerals to the dissolved load of glacierized catchments is particularly crucial for determining the role of chemical weathering in modulating the carbon cycle over glacial-interglacial periods. In this study we report Mg and Li isotope data for water, river sediment, rock, and mineral separates from the Leverett Glacier catchment, West Greenland. We assess whether the silicate mineral contributions to the dissolved load, previously determined using radiogenic Sr, Ca, Nd, and Hf ... : Frontiers in Earth Sciences, 7 ...