Mineral phosphorus drives glacier algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet

Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is a major contributor to sea level rise. Blooms of pigmented glacier ice algae decrease surface albedo in the southwest Dark Zone, enhancing melt, yet controls on bloom development are poorly understood. Using nutrient addition experiments and spatially resolved mineralogical and geochemical analyses across the ablation zone, the study shows a direct link between mineral phosphorus in surface ice and glacier ice algal biomass. Phosphorus from mineral dust—specifically hydroxylapatite—limits algal growth and thus mineral dust acts as a secondary control on ice sheet melting via nutrient supply.

Jenine McCutcheon, Stefanie Lutz, Christopher Williamson, Joseph M. Cook, Andrew J. Tedstone, Aubry Vanderstraeten, Sasha Wilson, Anthony Stockdale, Steeve Bonneville, Alexandre M. Anesio, Marian L. Yallop, James B. McQuaid, Martyn Tranter, Liane G. Benning