The photo above shows a sediment-rich meltwater river originating from Leverett Glacier in southwest Greenland in June 2012. Not only is Greenland’s melting ice sheet adding huge amounts of water to the oceans, it could also be unleashing 400,000 metric tons of phosphorus every year.

(Jon Hawkings)

Melting glacial ice causes sea levels to rise, which can be detrimental to coastal ecosystems. But it seems that the effects of melting glaciers are not all bad; researchers have recently discovered that Greenland’s melting ice sheet is possibly unleashing more of the beneficial nutrient phosphorous into the ocean than previously thought.

New research shows that glacial meltwater could be . This is more than Arctic rivers are estimated to contribute to the Arctic ocean. Phosphorous, an essential nutrient, feeds plankton and its spread into the Arctic Ocean could enrich its waters and potentially stimulate growth of the marine food chain.

In 2012 and 2013, Cabot Institute researcher Jon Hawkings and his team of scientists gathered water samples and measured the flow of water from the Leverett Glacier and the Kiattuut Sermiat Glacier, according to the study. With the data they collected, they were able to discern how much phosphorous was likely being released from the ice sheet. They discovered there were greater amounts of phosphorous in the waters of the Leverett Glacier than had been previously detected at other study sites. The large 230-square-mile glacier is more representative of the glaciers that contribute the bulk of meltwater coming from the Greenland ice sheet.

The photo above shows a sediment-rich meltwater river originating from Leverett Glacier in southwest Greenland in June 2012.

(Jon Hawkings)

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“We found annual phosphorous input (for all of Greenland’s outlet glaciers) are at least equal to some of the world’s largest rivers, such as the Mississippi and the Amazon,” report Hawkings and his colleagues in a recent study. This amount could rise as the climate warms and more ice melts.

According to Hawkings, oceanographers have historically considered glaciers and ice sheets as frozen systems that don’t add nutrients or water to the oceans. However, research conducted over the past couple of decades has shown there is water flowing at the base of glaciers, and, as climate change warms Greenland and more ice melts and makes its way into the sea, the ice sheet is potentially becoming a more important source of nutrients.

Glacial meltwater picks up phosphorous as it travels through moulins, which are like pipes in the ice. The meltwater trickles to the bottom of the glacier where the ice meets the bedrock and from there the water is exposed to phosphorous-rich rocks that are crushed as the glacier moves.

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The photo above shows a sediment-rich meltwater river originating from Leverett Glacier in southwest Greenland in June 2012.

(Jon Hawkings)

The concentrations of dissolved phosphate found in the Leverett Glacier meltwater were similar to concentrations found in Arctic rivers and are among the highest levels recorded in glacial meltwaters worldwide, according to the study. The total amount of phosphorous concentrations found in the Leverett Glacier meltwater was 10 times greater than concentrations found in Arctic river waters.

“This is an important finding because it highlights the role that the rapidly changing Greenland ice sheet plays in supplying nutrients to the Arctic Ocean,” said Eran Hood of the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. “Now we need to understand how much of this phosphorous, especially in the particulate, ends up being utilized in high-latitude marine ecosystems form.”

The amount of phosphorous from meltwater that makes it into the open oceans remains unknown. The largest portion of phosphorous could be settling out of the meltwater and end up buried in Greenland’s fjords before it has time to dissolve, says Hawkings.

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