EGU21-15473, updated on 04 Mar 2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15473
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Nutrient cycling and productivity of a Himalayan Glacier Surface

Monica sharma shamurailatpam1, Chris yates2, Jon telling3, Jemma l. wadham2, and Ramanathan al1
Monica sharma shamurailatpam et al.
  • 1Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of Environmental Sciences, India (shamur52_ses@jnu.ac.in)
  • 2School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  • 3School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, UK

Nutrients deposited and cycled on the glacier surfaces are important not only because of their role in the global biogeochemical cycling in the downstream environments, but also because of their importance as a primary food source for microbes inhabiting glacial surfaces, their ice surface darkening properties, and the consequent potential for enhancing glacier melt. The present study focuses on the Chhota Shigri (CS) Glacier in the North-Western (NW) Indian Himalayan region. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in the bare ice is relatively higher than the other aspects studied in the glacial environment of CS indicating that much of the active microbial activity occurring in the bare ice. Total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) is typically concentrated in the snow, which is the major contributor of NO3-. The rapid declining of TIN in the bare ice as compare to other aspects and its enrichment in DOC suggests for a more active microbial activity occurrence in the exposed ice rather than in isolated cryoconites holes in the Chhota Shigri Glacier. The net biological productivity indicates the dominance of net gross photosynthesis over respiration, suggesting a net autotrophic production in CS.

How to cite: sharma shamurailatpam, M., yates, C., telling, J., l. wadham, J., and al, R.: Nutrient cycling and productivity of a Himalayan Glacier Surface, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-15473, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15473, 2021.