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SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Glacial impacts on lacustrine ecology, geophysical systems and pollutant chemistry in the high Arctic. RiS ID 11159.

Awarded: NOK 58,476

LEGACY aims to explore a new dimension to the dialogue around the impacts of climate change and pollutants in the Arctic. Are melting glaciers acting as sources of legacy pollutants? Do these released pollutants accumulate in Arctic lake environments? And how will climate change affect future pollutant dynamics and their environmental impacts? This project will use lake sediment cores to develop high-resolution, multi-proxy centennial/millennial records detailing sedimentological, chemical and ecological changes over time. Chemical profiling will focus on lead, mercury and a selection of POPs. Changes in diatom assemblages will be assessed against the changes in sedimentological and chemical proxies within the core samples to identify potential linkages between presence of certain pollutants and impact on diatom biodiversity and tested using multivariate statistical methods. Finally, the palaeo-reconstruction of historic conditions at the study sites will be used to develop a model of projected changes in aquatic environmental conditions under a suite of different climate models.

Funding scheme:

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum