NSF Award
2512432
Glacier melting in polar regions can result in large amounts of freshwater being introduced into the coastal ocean, changing nutrient levels at the surface, impacting organisms like phytoplankton and influencing the distribution and composition of organic material in the water. In this project, researchers will participate in an expedition to the West Antarctic Peninsula in early 2025 that will approach several retreat glaciers, starting from the northern tip of the Peninsula and progressing toward its central region. The team will analyze physical, chemical, and biological changes in the area, and relate these changes to differences in melting trends that have been observed along the Peninsula. Results will help predict future impacts on the region due to increased melting associated with continued warming. The program will provide training for a graduate student and disseminate results of the study across a broad audience. <br/> <br/>This project will examine the effects of meltwater input from tidewater glaciers on dissolved organic matter along the West Antarctic Peninsula. While glaciers near the northern tip of the Peninsula show no changes in grounding line discharge trends, several farther south, near Palmer Station, are characterized by significant changes, with discharge trends surging by a factor of 3 in many glaciers. This suggests a north-south gradient in the response of discharge rates to environmental forcing along the Peninsula, likely influencing the vertical flux of nutrients and affecting phytoplankton and the composition and lability of dissolved organic matter. The PIs will take advantage of a cruise-of-opportunity to the West Antarctic Peninsula in February 2025 to collect samples in transects approaching multiple tidewater glaciers, capturing the north-south gradient in discharge trends reported for the region. Samples of seawater and floating ice from glaciers will be analyzed for temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, particulate and dissolved organic carbon concentrations and lability, and dissolved organic matter composition using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry, optics and isotopic analyses. Variations in organic matter composition and lability will be identified and compared along the north-south gradient in discharge trends, which will inform how the system might respond to future increases in glacier melting. Results will also be compared with similar analyses currently being conducted in the Amundsen Sea and the Kerguelen Islands, collectively capturing the influence of meltwater originating from large ice sheets, tidewater glaciers and land-terminating glaciers. The project will support a graduate student who will be trained in the analysis of dissolved organic matter data.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
