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

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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.