Shows how melting ice is affecting supplies of nutrients to the sea

The findings of a research expedition to coastal Greenland which examined, for the first time, how melting ice is affecting supplies of nutrients to the oceans has been published in the journal Progress in Oceanography. The European Research Council-funded expedition on board the RSS Discovery took place during the summer of 2017. It was led by Dr Kate Hendry a geochemist from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences. The scientific crew spent about five weeks at sea in 2017, mostly near the western coast of Greenland, sampling waters, sediments and marine life using a range of cutting-edge technologies. A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) took high-definition, real time videos of the seafloor and collected samples of marine life, water and sediments which were then analysed by the scientists on board. The paper highlights the importance of glacial meltwaters, combined with shelf currents and biological production, on biogeochemical cycling in these high-latitude regions over a range of timescales. Previous work from the Bristol Glaciology Centre has shown that meltwaters released from underneath glaciers are rich in important nutrients.