Ice as a Geochemical Reactor for Mineral and Organic Aggregation

Ice plays crucial, yet misunderstood, roles in the transformation of geomaterials in nature.

This includes the production of mineral-mineral and mineral-organic aggregates, which can be vectors of mass transport in biogeochemical cycles.

Driven by recent breakthroughs, we will explore the mechanisms in which minute volumes of liquid water locked in the polycrystalline matrix of ice produce these materials.

This is an entirely new project with the following three aims:I    Resolve the composition and chemical speciation of organics locked in iceII   Identify formation mechanisms of mineral aggregates in ice and their affinity for organicsIII  Identify formation mechanisms and the stability of mineral-organic aggregates in iceOrganized into three interconnected Work Packages, this project will make new fundamental science for study across three distinct areas, all under the overarching theme of Ice, as a Geochemical reactor.

It aims to resolve molecular-, nano- to micro-scale processes, using capabilities at the Umeå Molecular Geochemistry laboratory, involving national and international collaborators, and through Swedish research infrastructures.

By addressing the critically and globally important topic of Fe and C biogeochemistry, this project contributes to a paradigm shift in our understanding of the catalytic roles of ice in nature.

This is a highly timely topic, given that climate change is altering the frequency of freeze-thaw events in soils, water and atmosphere.