Glacier Dynamics

At CHNGES we love our Icelandic friends to the north. CHNGES faculty and students spend a lot of time in country conducting a variety of research projects and participating in a study abroad course. Because of our passion to better understand and ameliorate the effects of climate change, we are working in Iceland to study dissolved inorganic carbon flux in glacial rivers of the three most prominent icecaps in Southern Iceland. Through longitudinal sampling of several glacial rivers flowing from major ice caps in the southern portion of Iceland, the Center is working to analyze how much carbon is being stored and transported within the glacial meltwater systems. We use these data to assess how the rapid melting of Icelandic glaciers is impacting current and future carbon dioxide levels in the face of a rapidly changing Arctic climate.