Cryosphere-hydrosphere-lithosphere interactions under changing climate in Arctic

The rapid climate warming in Arctic leads to formation of extensive offshore groundwater reserves through submarine permafrost and subglacial melt water drainage.

There is increasing evidence that cryosphere driven submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is prevalent in continental shelf and slope regions of Arctic Ocean, but controls of elemental fluxes through SGD remains uncertain.

The CryArctic project closely investigates how cryosphere driven groundwater flow, occuring in timescales from days to millennium, interacts with the permeable sediments (silicates and carbonates) in coastal aquifers and seafloor.

The solute delivery and associated source/sinks of submarine groundwater flow remains unknown and are gaps in our current understanding of Earth’s cryosphere and biogeochemical cycling.

The project aims to provide elemental and isotopic composition of submarine groundwater endmember through extensive analysis of marine porewater from six locations pan-Arctic where SGD is documented.

Through state-of-the-art silicon (Si) and strontium (Sr) isotopic measurements of marine porewater, terrestrial endmembers and other leached fractions we will be able to decipher dominant biogeochemical process occuring within the subterranean mixing zones.

We supplement the high resolution isotopic measurements with scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction to identify major authigenic and detrital phases in sediments.

The project will be the first to couple Si and Sr isotopes in marine porewater and results will have implications for solute delivery through SGD and silicate alteration pathways in marine sediments.

Through the proposed project, candidate aim to acquire skills for long term research planning, advanced instrumental training, form international collaborative networks, and most importantly gather the attention of scientific community as well as public towards the magnitude and relevance of Arctic SGD.