Submarine Groundwater Discharge from the Freezing Svalbard fjord
Researchers supported by COST Action OFFSOURCE conduct Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSM) to better understand the cryosphere-driven submarine groundwater discharge.
Dr. Shantona Khatun studies how biogeochemical reactions response to the seepage of OFG from Svalbard fjords. During her STSM visit, she analyses the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of sediments collected from Svalbard fjords, where the presence of OFG is confirmed through geochemical analyses. She also collect sampled to characterize the microbial communities in these sediments and perform long-term incubation experiments to further study the changes in biogeochemistry. The result of her visit will help us understand the environmental impact of OFG, which will contribute towards Task 1 from WG4 of the OFFSOURCE COST Action.
PhD student Zaga Trisovic was scanning sediment cores from Svalbard fjords, where OFG was confirmed through geochemical analyses. The aim of Zaga’s work is to find out the underground pathways of glacier melt water. She reaches this aim by scanning the sediments for high resolution computed tomography (CT) to differentiate the different sediment grains from fluid flow pathways. She coupled the CT scan with analyses of other physical properties (e.g. porosity, density) which will provide important constraints for hydrological parameters that will be needed for future quantification of this OFG system. This work aligns with the Task 1 and 2 from WG1 of the OFFSOURCE COST Action.