Water from the east coast of Greenland contains traces of soil from Russia, say scientists from the Technical University of Denmark, DTU. Danish experts took a sample of ocean water and concluded that Greenlandic fjords get their organic matter from Russia. An article with the details published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans.
The author of research Colin Stedmon and his group from the Norwegian Polar Institute discovered a presence of soils from Russia in the waters of fjords in Greenland. This chemical ‘signature’ proves the theory of glacial movements. Of course, Artic ocean got a lot of water from Russia through the massive rivers along the Siberian coast — that is another resource of as dissolved in the water organic matter.
Danish scientists were interesting in the research of vital ocean circulation that drives weather systems throughout Europe and North America. Such a circulation has a strong influence on the climate and weather. It’s possible to get a computer modeling of a certain situation, but the science needs real observations to validate their results and to identify where the fresh water has come from–glaciers, sea ice, or rivers.
According to Colin Stedmon, the lead author of Greenland water research at DTU:
“This is important if you want to understand how these various contributions of fresh water into the north Atlantic might change in the future.”
