Research project IGV| Cryosphere-driven submarine groundwater discharge beneath the Eurasian Ice Sheet Complex

While considerable research has been dedicated to potential cryosphere-hydrosphere interactions, recent studies demonstrate how ice bodies could drive groundwater flow a few hundred kilometres offshore with discharges occurred a few hundred meters below the sea surface. Such a cryosphere-driven submarine groundwater discharge (CD-SGD) could be a hidden and overlooked process with potent consequences on ocean chemistry and greenhouse gas budgets. Obstructed by the limited knowledge in the extent and functioning of CD-SGD, no quantitative assessment on its global and geological significance is available. This knowledge-gap is particularly critical for the climate-sensitive Arctic region, where the degradation of ice bodies is occurring at an unprecedented rate with associated perturbation of nutrient and carbon cycles. This project aims to provide an improved mechanistic understanding on how the Eurasian Ice Sheet Complex regulates submarine groundwater discharge in the Baltic and Arctic regions for a better understanding of its influences on the nutrient and carbon cycles. Target study areas include northern Norwegian margin, Svalbard fjords, and Stockholm archipelago.