Facts about the project
Project managers
Hanna Farnelid
Other project members
Julia Weissenbach and Marcelo Ketzer, Linnaeus University; Volker Brüchert, Stockholm University
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University, Stockholm University
Financier
Swedish Polar Reasearch Secreteriat
Timetable
Jan 2024-Dec 2026
Subject
Ecology, Biology and Environmental Science (Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
Research groups
Marine phytoplankton ecology and applications (MPEA)
Webbsite
https://www.polar.se/expeditioner/north-of-greenland-2024/
More about the project
The Arctic Ocean is rapidly warming and as a result there is a switch between ice-covered to partially ice-covered or open water in both coastal and offshore areas. This will have large consequences for light availability, salinity, and nutrient sources which cause dramatic biological and chemical changes. This project investigates biological productivity in waters north of Greenland which are subject to melting glaciers and receding sea ice. In this area, nutrients which support productivity, are derived from glacial outflow via land-side rock weathering, erosion, and transport by glaciers and meltwaters, and inflow of relatively warm water from the Atlantic or cold water from the central Arctic Ocean. The nutrient concentrations and their relative proportions from these sources are very different and have direct effects on the base of the marine food chain and thereby total ecosystem productivity.
During the expedition North of Greenland 2024, we will conduct both chemical and biological assessments of the state of the waters and the productivity to resolve the effect of climate change. We will measure CO2, alkalinity, and pH as well as major nutrients and the trace gases CH4 and N2O. To resolve the chemical-biological interplay we will investigate the abundance and composition of the primary producer assemblage, measure rates of primary production and conduct biogeochemical experiments. This data will be the first to describe the chemical and biological effects of ice-melting in the coastal areas north of Greenland and will provide important knowledge for understanding ecosystem consequences in a warming Arctic Ocean.
The project is part of the research in the research group Marine phytoplankton ecology and applications and in Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems (EEMiS)
