Impacts of deglaciation on Arctic fjords

Glacial fjords receive large volumes of freshwater and glacially derived carbon and nutrients, driving productivity that sequesters atmospheric CO2. Freshwater sources to fjords are changing: retreat of ice sheets changes the quantity and quality of water input to fjords from marine terminating glaciers, land-retreated glacier, and streams draining deglaciated areas. We are testing the hypothesis that changing freshwater sources with ice retreat will impact biogeochemical processes and C budgets of glacial fjords with implications for biogeochemical processes over glacial-interglacial cycles.