Upscaling dissolved organic carbon from canoes - the Peel River 2019 expedition

Sebastian Westermann will talk about sampling biogeochemical parameters using canoes in Canada.

In rivers and streams, organic carbon is transported in both the particulate (POC) and dissolved (DOC) forms, which is an important component of the terrestrial carbon cycle. In permafrost environments, only few measurements of POC and DOC are available, so that upscaling from local sources to larger river catchments remains a complicated task.

In summer 2019, a group of ten researchers and local stakeholders conducted a sampling campaign for POC, DOC and other biogeochemical parameters at the Peel River, located in the Yukon Territory, Canada. This river catchment has recently received considerable attention from permafrost researchers due to the development of large thaw slumps in ice-rich terrain. In total, about 250 points were sampled along more than 600 river kilometers, while following the river from its source (1500m a.s.l.) in the Tombstone Mountains to sea level near the Beaufort Sea coast in canoes and other watercraft. The field project is part of the EU Horizon2020 project Nunataryuk, which studies the interactions between people and changes to permafrost, with a focus on the Arctic coastal region.

As the samples have not yet been analysed, the presentation will focus on the imagery and video material obtained during the field work. ​

 

Published Nov. 14, 2019 10:49 AM - Last modified Nov. 14, 2019 10:49 AM