Project Description
In Fresh4Bio we will carry out an integrated assessment of the East Greenland biogeochemistry, with a strict focus on maximising the use of Earth Observation data in determining each of three major components and their interconnections: water column structure, oceanic and Greenland freshwater export, and phytoplankton dynamics.
The Arctic environment is experiencing the brunt of global warming with the largest regional increases in the atmospheric temperature. In Greenland, increasing temperatures have distinct effects on glacier dynamics, and the increased glacier melt affects the freshwater discharge, directly impacting the supply of sediments, nutrients and dissolved organic matter to fjord systems and coastal and shelf seas, possibly limiting light and nutrient availability in those environments. Those will likely change the phytoplankton biomass and composition to a new state not yet documented in Greenlandic waters. Changes in phytoplankton will have multiple impacts on the ecosystem with regards to carbon dynamics, including CO2 sequestration through the biological pump and food-web structure, the latter with a direct impact on fisheries and potentially impacting an important income source for Greenland.
Physical processes such as water column stratification, turbulence and advection are critical on the modulation of phytoplankton dynamics by affecting nutrient supply, mixing regimes, and the dispersal of cells. Understanding the combined effects of these environmental factors is essential for predicting phytoplankton responses to ongoing global environmental changes and their implications for marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycling. This investigation will be performed in the largest fjord of the world. The fjord of Scoresby sund. The fjord is up to 340 km long and more than 600 meter deep in the deepest section. It is located on the East coast of Greenland about 300 km north of Iceland and more than 6 major glaciers discharge freshwater into the fjords.