Advanced ion chromatography for assessing permafrost degradation impacts on water quality and organic carbon composition and dynamics

我们正在申请资金，以购买Thermo Science-Dionex DUAL ICS-5000离子色谱仪，以支持我们的合作和综合流域研究项目，调查永久冻土退化对加拿大北极水质的影响。这一新仪器将取代处于无法修复的故障边缘的现有ICS-3000。新的ICS-5000将被配置为分析所有主要的溶解离子并量化关键碳水化合物(溶解有机碳(DOC)池的一部分)，这将使我们能够研究DOC在快速变化的永久冻土环境中的生物地球化学转化。 多年冻土变暖和退化正在暴露和动员以前埋藏和冻结的有机碳、溶解盐类和营养物，并对地表水质量产生大规模和多年的影响，包括增加营养物质(例如无机氮)和金属的出口，并释放更容易降解的DOC。由于DOC的降解会导致二氧化碳(CO2)的产生，因此从永久冻土中动员易降解的有机碳可以增加大气中的CO2浓度。迫切需要了解北极分水岭水质变化的关键驱动因素和规模，以及它们可能如何影响下游生态系统，并可能通过释放大气二氧化碳对气候进行反馈。 这些设备将支持加拿大北极地区几个地点的研究和培训，包括努纳武特西北航道上梅尔维尔岛的邦蒂角北极分水岭天文台(CBAWO)。CBAWO的研究始于2003年，2007年该地点遭受了广泛的永久冻土斜坡干扰(例如&gt；100个活动层分离)，这使得该地点作为一个自然研究天文台具有很高的价值。CBAWO是加拿大北极高地运行时间最长的分水岭研究观测站，包括从受和不受永久冻土干扰影响的分水岭进行的全面水质观测，包括干扰前后几年的观测。受资助的研究项目产生了被高度引用和国际认可的研究，并为50多名高素质的人员提供了知识、分析和技术技能以及经验，使他们在行业和政府部门的就业中具有极强的竞争力。这项研究将向北极社区和决策者通报对气候相关的质量/数量减少敏感的水资源要素，并将促进制定政策，以便在当地气候变化时更好地保护水资源。

We are requesting funding to acquire a Thermo Scientific-Dionex dual ICS-5000 ion chromatograph to support our collaborative and integrated watershed research programs investigating the impacts of permafrost degradation on water quality in the Canadian Arctic. This new instrument will replace an existing ICS-3000 that is on the verge of irreparable failure. The new ICS-5000 will be configured to analyze all major dissolved ions and to quantify key carbohydrates (part of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool), which will allow us to investigate the biogeochemical transformation of DOC in the rapidly changing permafrost environment. Permafrost warming and degradation are exposing and mobilizing previously buried and frozen pools of organic carbon, dissolved salts and nutrients, and having large scale and multi-year impacts on surface water quality, including increases in the export of nutrients (e.g. inorganic nitrogen) and metals, and releasing more easily degradable DOC. Since the degradation of DOC results in the production of carbon dioxide (CO2), the mobilisation of readily degradable organic carbon from the permafrost can increase the concentration of atmospheric CO2. There is an urgent need to understand the key drivers and scales of water quality changes in Arctic watersheds, and how they might impact downstream ecosystems, and potentially feedback on climate through the release of atmospheric CO2. The equipment will support research and training at several sites across the Canadian Arctic, including the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory (CBAWO) on Melville Island, on the Northwest Passage in Nunavut. Research at CBAWO began in 2003, and the site was subject to extensive permafrost slope disturbances (e.g. >100 active layer detachments) in 2007, making the site highly valuable as a natural research observatory. The CBAWO is the longest running watershed research observatory in the Canadian High Arctic, and includes comprehensive water quality observations from watersheds both affected and unaffected by permafrost disturbance, including observations in years before and after disturbance. The supported research programs have generated highly cited and internationally recognized research and haved provided more than fifty highly qualified personnel with the knowledge, analytical and technical skills, and experiences that make them highly competitive for employment in industry and government. This research will inform Arctic communities and decision makers of the water resource elements sensitive to climate related diminished quality/quantity, and will facilitate developing policy to better protect water resources as local climate changes.