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Mackenzie Delta Lake sediments – Records of recent permafrost thaw?
The Mackenzie River in Northwest Canada is the largest sediment source to the Arctic Ocean. Accelerated warming in the Arctic is expected to lead to increasing organic matter export from thawing permafrost soils with unknown feedbacks to climate and downstream ecosystems.
Not specified
In this project, you will characterize the material transported by the Mackenzie River using delta sediment cores as archives in order to determine whether the materials discharged by the Mackenzie River and its tributaries have responded to recent climatic change, and in particular to seek evidence for mobilization of the vast stores of carbon held in permafrost within the watershed. We aim to collect short sediment cores (<1 m) from ~15 lakes throughout the Mackenzie delta in spring 2021 (tentative dates in early April). Potential analyses include sediment properties (bulk density, grain size distribution, mineral surface area and elemental composition, 143Nd/144Nd isotopes) to elucidate sediment characteristics, as well as bulk elemental and isotopic (% organic carbon, % total nitrogen, δ13C, Δ14C) and molecular organic geochemistry, specifically employing different terrestrial and aquatic biomarkers in order to assess quality, age, origin and degradation of the sedimentary organic matter.
In this project, you will characterize the material transported by the Mackenzie River using delta sediment cores as archives in order to determine whether the materials discharged by the Mackenzie River and its tributaries have responded to recent climatic change, and in particular to seek evidence for mobilization of the vast stores of carbon held in permafrost within the watershed. We aim to collect short sediment cores (<1 m) from ~15 lakes throughout the Mackenzie delta in spring 2021 (tentative dates in early April). Potential analyses include sediment properties (bulk density, grain size distribution, mineral surface area and elemental composition, 143Nd/144Nd isotopes) to elucidate sediment characteristics, as well as bulk elemental and isotopic (% organic carbon, % total nitrogen, δ13C, Δ14C) and molecular organic geochemistry, specifically employing different terrestrial and aquatic biomarkers in order to assess quality, age, origin and degradation of the sedimentary organic matter.
Dr. Lisa Bröder lisa.broeder@erdw.ethz.ch
Prof. Dr. Timothy Eglinton timothy.eglinton@erdw.ethz.ch
Dr. Lisa Bröder lisa.broeder@erdw.ethz.ch Prof. Dr. Timothy Eglinton timothy.eglinton@erdw.ethz.ch