Tidewater cycle drives alpine glacial sediment plume geochemistry.

ABSTRACT: Sediments transported by glacial meltwaters are important sources of trace-metal micronutrients for coastal microbial communities, linking cryospheric processes with ocean fertilization and biogeochemical cycles. Tidewater glacier advance-retreat cycles drive sediment fluxes and influence fjord geochemistry. Here, we used a chemical extraction method to determine the iron and manganese fertilization potential of suspended sediment-plume and iceberg-laden particulate matter from two adjacent, yet geomorphologically distinct, fjords in Southcentral Alaska. We found that the glacier retreat status underpinned the fraction of labile trace-metals within fjord surface plumes, with distinctly lower lability of metals associated with recent and rapid retreat coincident with enhanced erosion and ch

SUBMITTER: Forsch KO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12546839 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature