Title: Preliminary Results from the U.S. Naval Academy Polar Science & Technology Program Alaska North Slope Material Flux Study: Spring-to-Late Summer Variability in Material Fluxes in Rivers and Streams on the Alaska North Slope.
Abstract: The U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) Polar Science & Technology Program (PS&TP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC) Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) are leading a collaborative team of scientists and students from the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) in a 3-year field study sponsored by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) to identify organic and inorganic matter sources and investigate seasonal-to-interannual variability in surface water chemistry and fluxes of freshwater, heat, and materials in the Sagavanirktok River and Kuparuk River and representative small creeks and streams from the Brooks Range to the Beaufort Sea on the U.S. North Slope of Alaska. Data being collected includes high-resolution, 3-dimensional (3-D) landscape surveys, freshwater flow, heat flux measurements, meteorological parameters, in situ surface water quality data (particle size spectra, temperature, conductivity, turbidity,and pH), and results from biogeochemical analysis of discrete samples of surface water and particulate matter (chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), alkalinity,total suspended solids (TSS) major ions, minor and trace elements, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC and DOC), particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, and stable isotope ratios (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen)). Preliminary results from the June – October 2019 field season will be presented to provide an assessment of the variability in surface water chemistry and material fluxes over the 2019 spring-to-late summer thaw cycle and potential linkages to different source inputs, hydrogeological response, and landscape changes.
