“Meltwater features in Greenland and Antarctica and their roles in biogeochemical cycling” with Melisa Diaz

Monday, Nov. 14, 3 – 4 p.m.
Micron Center for Materials Research (MCMR), Room 106
1437 W University Dr, Boise, ID

The Boise State Department of Geosciences presents an in-person seminar, “Meltwater features in Greenland and Antarctica and their roles in biogeochemical cycling” with Melisa Diaz from the University of Colorado Boulder at 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in the Micron Center for Materials Research, Room 106.

Diaz writes in the abstract to her talk: “Over the last two decades, anomalous warming events and climate change have drastically altered coastal and periglacial regions in Antarctica and Greenland. For example, in 2001 the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica experienced unprecedented glacial melt, resulting in physical and ecological changes to the environment, some of which have persisted in the two decades following. In Greenland, about 60% of mass loss from the ice sheet over the last few decades is a result of increased summer melt and runoff, which has altered coastal food webs. Changes in the production, storage, and residence time of liquid water in polar regions has important implications for biogeochemical cycling. This talk will focus on two systems as case studies: first, what are believed to be the southern-most Antarctic surface lakes at ~85°S, and second, an ice-dammed ice-marginal lake in Greenland. These two systems demonstrate the dynamic nature of glacial meltwater in polar regions and how changes in meltwater abundance and storage can influence the habitability of resource limited systems.”