Cryosphere-driven submarine groundwater discharge in the Arctic

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) delivers nutrients, trace elements, and carbon to the oceans with potent consequences of productivity and carbon cycling.

Cryosphere-driven groundwater discharge from presently and/or formerly glaciated regions, has been postulated to explain the seepages that occur tens to hundreds of kilometres offshore, a hypothesis that has not been rigorously evaluated in the Arctic.

In this 4-year project, I will examine how Eurasian Ice Sheet Complex (EISC) dynamics regulated SGD through a state-of-art numerical model that considers field constraints derived in this project.

Through collaborative field campaigns, a large area with high SGD potential, including the Baltic Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Arctic Ocean, will be investigated to map the four-dimensional extend of Arctic SGD (i.e. geographic distribution, water depths, and ages of SGD). Geochemical analyses of pore fluid and sediment samples will be performed to confirm the occurrence of SGD.

Dating of authigenic carbonates (U-Th) and pore fluids (C-14) will help determine the ages of the groundwater discharge events.

The knowledge gained from the proposed project will have high practical values for the stability of risky underground infrastructures, freshwater security in circum-polar regions, and provide geological analogues on how the disappearing modern ice sheets from Greenland and Antarctica will affect the hydrosphere under the current warming climate.