Proglacial lake impacts on the export of Organic carbon and Nutrients to Downstream ecosystems

Glacier retreat is accelerating in response to climate warming, leading to an increase in the number and total area of proglacial lakes globally. Proglacial lakes have the potential to modulate glacial runoff via sediment immobilization and in-lake biogeochemical cycling, with implications for the productivity and biodiversity of valuable downstream ecosystems. However, a quantitative understanding of the impact of proglacial lake modulation on the export of glacier-derived suspended sediment (SS), nutrients and organic carbon (OC) is currently lacking. POND will fill this critical knowledge gap by quantifying relationships between proglacial lake physical characteristics and changes in riverine fluxes of SS, nutrients and OC in rapidly deglaciating landscapes in Norway using a combination of remote sensing, field sampling, and biogeochemical analyses. Results will be used to inform a novel and globally relevant conceptual model of proglacial lakes as 'biogeochemical modulators' of glacial runoff. POND will be hosted at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, facilitating unrivaled low-carbon impact access to Arctic and temperate glacial field sites. This highly interdisciplinary project unites my track record in glacial dissolved organic matter chemistry with UiT's expertise in glacier biogeochemical cycling and landscape evolution at regional to global sales. A secondment at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate will facilitate access to glacier and glacial lake inventories, supporting my training in the use of remote sensing and ensuring close collaboration with a water resource management stakeholder with direct interest in POND research findings. POND's unprecedented quantitative evaluation and conceptual model of the biogeochemical impacts of proglacial lake growth on SS, nutrient and OC export to downstream ecosystems will inform future ecosystem management and policy in glacially-influenced mountain regions worldwide.