Investigating ice sheet collapse and expansion as a driver of micro-nutrient bioavailability

Abstract

The rapid melting of ice sheets is among the most visible consequences of anthropogenic climate change and has the potential to disrupt marine biogeochemical cycles. Predicting how marine primary productivity will respond in this rapidly changing environment remains uncertain, because ice sheets may enhance inputs of iron (Fe) into regions where Fe is presently a bio-limiting nutrient. I propose to assess how Fe delivery and reactivity have changed over long timescales with the expansion and decline of multiple major ice sheets by characterizing the amount and speciation of Fe delivered to the seafloor, using multiple geochemical and mineralogical analytical methods on IODP cores from Baffin Bay, the Ross Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska.

Biography

I discovered Earth science in an introductory geology course at The Ohio State University, where my undergraduate and master’s research focused on Arctic marine sediments. I participated in a geophysical research cruise to the Chukchi Sea and found a passion for seagoing research, which led me to a position as a marine lab technician on the JOIDES Resolution. I sailed in support of eleven IODP expeditions before transitioning to a career as a middle school science teacher. In 2021, I decided to return to graduate school and pursue a PhD at Kent State University, where I work with Dr. Allyson Tessin studying biogeochemical cycling and sediment delivery in polar regions. I was thrilled to return to the JOIDES Resolution as an inorganic geochemist on IODP Expedition 400 to Baffin Bay. My Schlanger Fellowship project will focus on the relationship between iron cycling and glacial instability, using sediments from Expedition 400 as well as IODP sites in the Ross Sea and Gulf of Alaska.