Biogeochemical data from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in a periglacial catchment, West Greenland

Abstract

Abstract. Global warming is expected to be most pronounced in the Arctic where permafrost thaw and release of old carbon may provide an important feedback mechanism to the climate system. To better understand and predict climate effects and feedbacks on the cycling of elements within and between ecosystems in northern latitude landscapes, a thorough understanding of the processes related to transport and cycling of elements is required. A fundamental requirement to reach a better process understanding is to have access to high quality empirical data on chemical concentrations and biotic properties for a wide range of ecosystem domains and functional units (abiotic and biotic pools). The aim of this study is therefore to make one of the most extensive field data sets from a periglacial catchment readily available that can be used both to describe present day periglacial processes and to improve predictions of the future. Here we present the sampling and analytical methods, field and laboratory equipment and the resulting biogeochemical data from a state-of-the-art whole-ecosystem investigation of the terrestrial and aquatic parts of a lake catchment in the Kangerlussuaq region, West Greenland. This dataset allows for the calculation of whole-ecosystem mass balance budgets for long list of elements, including carbon, nutrients as well as major and trace metals. The dataset is freely available and can be downloaded from PANGAEA: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.860961

Seasonal Variations in Moisture Origin Explain Spatial Contrast in Precipitation Isotope Seasonality on Coastal Western Greenland

“…No long‐term precipitation isotope monitoring has been undertaken in central western Greenland. Although precipitation δ 2 H seasonality is poorly constrained for this intermediate site, few measurements of precipitation isotopes (blue points) (Lindborg et al., 2016) suggest intermediate seasonality between northern and southern sites in line with OIPC interpolation. (d) Monthly precipitation amount measured at GHCN stations (boxplots) with median total tracked evaporation marked by black points.…”

“…We compare multi‐year monthly average precipitation δ 2 H records from northwestern (Qaanaaq; 77.47°N, 69.23°W) and southwestern Greenland (Kangilinnguit; 61.23°N, 48.10°W) from the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) (Figure 1) (IAEA/WMO, 2015). No long‐term constraints on precipitation isotope seasonality currently exist from coastal central western Greenland, although a few available measurements of event‐scale precipitation δ 2 H are in line with moderate seasonality (Lindborg et al., 2016). We additionally compare measured precipitation δ 2 H values with monthly values simulated for Qaanaaq, Ilulissat (69.22°N, 51.05°W), and Kangilinnguit by the Online Isotopes of Precipitation calculator (OIPC) (Bowen, 2019; Bowen et al., 2005).…”

Water and energy transfer modeling in a permafrost‐dominated, forested catchment of Central Siberia: The key role of rooting depth

“…Overall, the proposed approach of mechanistical modeling of thermo‐hydrological behavior of the active layers in the Kulingdakan watershed could provide the basis for assessing the dynamics of the water and element fluxes in forested, permafrost‐dominated areas, including changes in weathering processes or the evolution of water stress for tree populations . Moreover, the tool and methodology presented here for the study of the Kulingdakan watershed may, once properly adapted, be usable in other permafrost‐affected regions, as they do not at any stage require parametrical calibrations, relying on purely mechanistic approaches.…”