Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier
We have assessed the microbial ecology on the surface of Mittivakkat glacier in SE-Greenland during the exceptional high melting season in July 2012 when the so far most extreme melting rate for the Greenland Ice Sheet has been recorded. By employing a complementary and multi-disciplinary field samp...
Published in: | FEMS Microbiology Ecology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2014
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1983/0ca2bf1a-314b-44e0-b97d-ed773b83d9f5 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/0ca2bf1a-314b-44e0-b97d-ed773b83d9f5 https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12351 |
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/0ca2bf1a-314b-44e0-b97d-ed773b83d9f5 2024-01-28T10:05:54+01:00 Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier Lutz, S Anesio, Alexandre M Jorge Vilar, SE Benning, LG 2014 https://hdl.handle.net/1983/0ca2bf1a-314b-44e0-b97d-ed773b83d9f5 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/0ca2bf1a-314b-44e0-b97d-ed773b83d9f5 https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12351 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Lutz , S , Anesio , A M , Jorge Vilar , SE & Benning , LG 2014 , ' Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier ' , FEMS Microbiology Ecology , vol. 89 , pp. 402-414 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12351 article 2014 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12351 2024-01-04T23:42:17Z We have assessed the microbial ecology on the surface of Mittivakkat glacier in SE-Greenland during the exceptional high melting season in July 2012 when the so far most extreme melting rate for the Greenland Ice Sheet has been recorded. By employing a complementary and multi-disciplinary field sampling and analytical approach, we quantified the dramatic changes in the different microbial surface habitats (green snow, red snow, biofilms, grey ice, cryoconite holes). The observed clear change in dominant algal community and their rapidly changing cryo-organic adaptation inventory was linked to the high melting rate. The changes in carbon and nutrient fluxes between different microbial pools (from snow to ice, cryoconite holes and glacial forefronts) revealed that snow and ice algae dominate the net primary production at the onset of melting, and that they have the potential to support the cryoconite hole communities as carbon and nutrient sources. A large proportion of algal cells is retained on the glacial surface and temporal and spatial changes in pigmentation contribute to the darkening of the snow and ice surfaces. This implies that the fast, melt-induced algal growth has a high albedo reduction potential, and this may lead to a positive feedback speeding up melting processes. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland ice algae Ice Sheet University of Bristol: Bristol Research Greenland FEMS Microbiology Ecology 89 2 402 414 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
op_collection_id |
ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
description |
We have assessed the microbial ecology on the surface of Mittivakkat glacier in SE-Greenland during the exceptional high melting season in July 2012 when the so far most extreme melting rate for the Greenland Ice Sheet has been recorded. By employing a complementary and multi-disciplinary field sampling and analytical approach, we quantified the dramatic changes in the different microbial surface habitats (green snow, red snow, biofilms, grey ice, cryoconite holes). The observed clear change in dominant algal community and their rapidly changing cryo-organic adaptation inventory was linked to the high melting rate. The changes in carbon and nutrient fluxes between different microbial pools (from snow to ice, cryoconite holes and glacial forefronts) revealed that snow and ice algae dominate the net primary production at the onset of melting, and that they have the potential to support the cryoconite hole communities as carbon and nutrient sources. A large proportion of algal cells is retained on the glacial surface and temporal and spatial changes in pigmentation contribute to the darkening of the snow and ice surfaces. This implies that the fast, melt-induced algal growth has a high albedo reduction potential, and this may lead to a positive feedback speeding up melting processes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lutz, S Anesio, Alexandre M Jorge Vilar, SE Benning, LG |
spellingShingle |
Lutz, S Anesio, Alexandre M Jorge Vilar, SE Benning, LG Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier |
author_facet |
Lutz, S Anesio, Alexandre M Jorge Vilar, SE Benning, LG |
author_sort |
Lutz, S |
title |
Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier |
title_short |
Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier |
title_full |
Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier |
title_fullStr |
Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier |
title_sort |
variations of algal communities cause darkening of a greenland glacier |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/0ca2bf1a-314b-44e0-b97d-ed773b83d9f5 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/0ca2bf1a-314b-44e0-b97d-ed773b83d9f5 https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12351 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland ice algae Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland ice algae Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Lutz , S , Anesio , A M , Jorge Vilar , SE & Benning , LG 2014 , ' Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier ' , FEMS Microbiology Ecology , vol. 89 , pp. 402-414 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12351 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12351 |
container_title |
FEMS Microbiology Ecology |
container_volume |
89 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
402 |
op_container_end_page |
414 |
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1789332460996132864 |