Master thesis defense by Henry Henson will take place in “Biologiens hus bldg 1223 room 153” - 8 June 17.10.
TITLE: Coast freshening drives acidification state in Greenland fjords
SUMMARY:
The freshening of Greenland fjords caused by unprecedented melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet has the potential to alter carbonate chemistry in coastal waters, which would influence carbon uptake as well as have biological consequences from acidification. This thesis presents large-scale measurements of carbonate system parameters in Greenland fjords and seek to identify the drivers of acidification state in this unique region. West Greenland fjords mainly experienced corrosive conditions at depth while along the East coast undersaturation was observed only in surface waters. This reflects a difference in the coastal boundary conditions and mechanisms driving acidification state in each system. Regardless of the drivers in each system, increasing freshwater discharge will likely lower carbonate saturation states and impact biotic and abiotic carbon uptake in the future.
This thesis is the product of a 60 ECTS master’s project at the Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University that was conducted from August 2021 until June 2022. This study was based off sampling that took place on two research campaigns onboard R/V Laugh Koch and R/V Sanna in August of 2016 and 2018. Supervision was provided by Søren Rysgaard, Mikael Sejr, and Johnna Holding.