Chemical denudation rates and carbon dioxide drawdown in an ice‐free polar karst catchment: Londonelva, Svalbard

Abstract

Chemical denudation rates and carbon dioxide withdrawal were calculated for the Londonelva basin, an ice-free karst catchment on Svalbard. Runoff was recorded 12 June to 11 October 2000 and water samples were collected daily in August. The chemical denudation rate that month amounted to 2.2 m 3 km À2 . The estimated chemical denudation rate for 2000 was 5.8 m 3 km À2 yr À1 or 303 S meq þ m À2 yr À1 , but this rate may be unusually low because basin runoff was only 158 Â 10 3 m 3 , the lowest since recording began in 1992. For other discharge years estimated chemical denudation rates range from 5.8 to 13.3 m 3 km À2 yr À1 or 300-690 S meq þ m À2 yr À1 . The CO 2 withdrawal in August 2000 amounted to 560 kg C km À2 and for the hydrological year 2000 it was 1560 kg C km À2 yr À1 . In 1993, the highest recorded runoff year, withdrawal of CO 2 may have reached 3800 kg C km À2 yr À1 . Figure 2 Mean daily discharges (Q) in Londonelva in the period of runoff recording (12 June to 11 October 2000) with mean daily air temperature (t a ) and precipitation (P) at Ny-Å lesund in the background.Figure 5 Transient carbon dioxide drawdown (TCD) in relation to crustal solute fluxes (CSF) in glacierized Bayelva basin (filled triangles) and ice-free Londonelva catchment (circles).

Occurrence and temporal variations of groundwater outflows in the Petuniabukta region, Spitsbergen

“…A similar trend has been documented for instance in case of rivers and streams draining ice−free catchments (e.g. Pulina et al 1984;Krawczyk and Pettersson 2007;Rachlewicz 2007), tundra lakes (Zwo− liński et al 2008) and in spring waters (Chmiel et al 2007). There is probably no single explanation for that tendency, but one of the factors responsible may be a steady decrease in the contribution of low−conductivity water from snowmelt.…”

Changes in meltwater chemistry over a 20-year period following a thermal regime switch from polythermal to cold-based glaciation at Austre Brøggerbreen, Svalbard

“…Studies that include inorganic weathering processes within High-Arctic watersheds provide knowledge about chemical denudation and give estimates of solute yields entering High-Arctic fjords (see, e.g., Hodson et al 2000;Krawczyk et al 2003;Krawczyk & Pettersson 2007;Krawczyk & Bartoszewski 2008). The matter whether such research, based upon one or at most two consecutive ablation seasons, is sufficient and representative of a long-term changes has been somehow overlooked.…”

Hydrogeochemical and Biogeochemical Processes in Kaffiøyra River Catchments (Spitsbergen, Norway)

“…Also, the hydrochemical aspects of chemical denudation generated by cryochemical processes in the glacierized and non-glacierized areas was carried out. The results of these studies were recently published by, among many others, Hodson et al (2000Hodson et al ( , 2002, Cooper et al (2002), Kokelj and Burn (2003), Chmiel et al (2007Chmiel et al ( , 2011Chmiel et al ( , 2012, Krawczyk and Pettersson (2007), Krawczyk and Bartoszewski (2008), Zwoliński et al (2008Zwoliński et al ( , 2012, Bring and Destouni (2009), Dragon and Marciniak (2010), Kuhry et al (2010), Mazurek et al (2012) and Szpikowski et al (2014b). Effects of cryochemical processes were investigated also in the western part of Spitsbergen, in several small glacierized and non-glacierized river catchments: Pulina (1984Pulina ( , 1990, Pulina et al (1984), Kostrzewski et al (1989), Bartoszewski et al (1991); Pulina and Burzyk (2002), Chmiel et al (2007Chmiel et al ( , 2011Chmiel et al ( , 2012; Krawczyk and Pettersson (2007); Rachlewicz et al (2007); Szpikowski et al (2014a, b).…”