Critical Zone Research in the polar region – Svalbard
JProf. Dr. Svenja Riedesel, JProf. Dr. Eva Pfannerstill, Prof. Dr. Christine Heim
Geography, Meteorology, Geology, Biology
Motivation
The effects of global warming are particularly amplified in the arctic. Here, the more rapid rise in temperature has drastic effects on Earth’s Critical Zone (CZ). The CZ is the outermost shell of our planet, in which rocks, soils, water, air, and biota interact, thus providing crucial ecosystem services and sustaining Earth as a habitable planet. In the arctic, Earth’s CZ is impacted by rising temperatures, permafrost thawing, ecosystem changes, amplified release of greenhouse gases and of volatile organic compounds (VOC), and increased weathering and soil erosion. These processes already show their effects today, and will be enhanced in the future. Therefore, we consider it essential to investigate the arctic CZ in a comprehensive way (soil, water, microbiota, vegetation, fauna, and geo/biodiversity), as well as its interaction with the atmosphere. We aim to quantify current processes, anticipate potential future CZ developments including ecological adaptation strategies, by facilitating an interdisciplinary pilot study on the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic.
Svalbard offers the ideal location for this pilot study. The Svalbard archipelago is characterised by an Arctic climate, with small-scale variability in climate across the archipelago (e.g. Wickström et al., 2020). The arctic amplification has reached Svalbard and has resulted in an increase in ground temperature, affecting the
permafrost, with Svalbard holding the record for the warmest permafrost in the Arctic (Hanssen-Bauer et al., 2019). The sparsely vegetated landscape is often covered in biological soil crusts (BSC, Williams et al., 2017). These BSC are formed by diverse organisms (e.g. cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes) in the top millimetres of soil including clastic soil particles. BSC increase nutrient and moisture content in the top soil (e.g. Agnelli et al., 2021) and thus provide important ecosystem services. Furthermore, they cap the underlying soils, potentially impacting soil-atmosphere interactions, and influencing the permafrost beneath. Whilst previous work by B.Becker (Biology, UoC) and his team provide crucial information on BSC on Svalbard from a biological perspective (e.g. William et al., 2017), we here aim at investigating their presence and influences more holistically, by combining biology, geo-biology, geomorphology, soil sciences, geochronology, and atmospheric sciences.
To allow for an efficient field campaign we aim at using existing infrastructure of the AWI-PEV research station at Ny-Ålesund. Besides accommodation and organisational infrastructure, the research station houses numerous equipment for climate and weather research installed by German and French researchers, including the team from AG Crewell (Dr. K. Ebell, UoC).
Planned work packages
WP 1: Geobiology of biological soil crusts (BSC) on Svalbard
Well developed BSC in Polar regions provide a protective soil cover, as lichens and bryophytes have huge water storage capacities and retarded release which is beneficial for the inhabiting organisms and underlaying soils (Szymański et al., 2015). The accelerated warming climate will not only require BSC organisms to adapt, but also to cope with increased water run-off from melting glaciers, rain events and the thawing perma frost soil which may lead to disrupted BSC and enhanced erosion processes. Furthermore, it is not clear so far, to which extend arctic pioneer/succession species (grasses, birches, arctic willow) may increase soil erosion by root induced bioturbation and weathering (Prater et al., 2021). In order to understand and estimate the interaction/interrelation between the BSC, potential succession species and the underlaying soil, it is essential to characterise the biotic and abiotic composition (e.g. biomarkers, sediment geochemistry and microbial ecology) of the soil and BSC under warming climate. These data will enable to understand and quantify ecosystem changes and also provide essential information for WP2 and WP3.
WP 2: Temporal developments of biocrust capped soils on Svalbard
Changes in surface and ground temperatures drive freezing and thawing processes, and thus influence bio- and cryoturbation processes, the extent of biotic cover of soils, as well as weathering and soil erosion. Single grain luminescence tracing and dating methods allow us to quantify subsurface processes of siliciclastic material in arctic soils and sediments, by measuring energy stored in natural minerals, such as quartz and feldspar. We here aim at constraining the timing and processes of BSC and artic soil formation using single grain luminescence methods. It has been shown previously that the luminescence of quartz and feldspars can successfully be used soil- and sediment tracer to quantify subsurface processes, such as bio-, halo-, and cryoturbation (e.g. Zinelabedin et al., 2022, van der Meij et al., 2024). Furthermore, the luminescence properties of quartz and feldspar present in soils and sediments on Svalbard have been proven to be of sufficient quality for dating (e.g Alexanderson et al., 2011; Alexanderson and Murray, 2012; Gilbert et al., 2018), indicating promising applications of luminescence dating and tracing studies within the context of this project. Luminescence-based geochronological information of BSC formation and soil processes provide vital insights into the processes studied in WP 1 and 3.
WP 3: Biosphere-atmosphere interactions
The thawing of permafrost in the arctic has immense implications for the atmosphere. Besides the known release of the greenhouse gases CO2 and methane, recent research has shown that microbes in thawing permafrost release volatile organic compounds (e.g. Kramshoj et al. 2018, Jiao et al. 2025). Such gases are reactive drivers of atmospheric chemistry that can lead to the formation of atmospheric particles that enhance cloud formation and feedback with climate. However, very little is known about the amount and composition of volatiles released from arctic BSC and soils under climate change, leaving a gap in atmospheric chemistry models. Collecting air samples at Svalbard and samples of frozen soil to be thawed in the laboratory would be a promising starting point to investigate the emissions of this rapidly changing ecosystem and their impact on the atmosphere. The link with team members investigating BSC and soils here is especially relevant to enhance our understanding of the drivers of the emissions.
References:
- Agnelli, A., Corti, G., Massaccessi, L., Ventura, S., D’Acqui, L.P., 2021. Impact of biological crusts on soil formation in polar ecosystems. Geoderma 401, 115340.
- Alexanderson, H., Landvik, J.Y., Molodkov, A., Murray, A.S., 2011. A multi-method approach to dating middle and late Quaternary high relative sea-level events on NW Svalbard – a case study. Quaternary Geochronology 6, 326-340.
- Alexanderson, H., Murray, A.S., 2012. Luminescence signals from modern sediments in a glaciated bay, NW Svalbard. Quaternary Geochronology 10, 250-256.
- Gilbert, G., O’Neill, H.B., Nemec, W., Thiel, C., Christiansen, H.H., Buylaert, J.P., 2018. Late Quaternary sedimentation and permafrost development in a Svalbard fjord-valley, Norwegian high Arctic. Sedimentology 65, 2531-2558.
- Hanssen-Bauer, I., Førland, E.J., Hisdal, H., Mayer, S., Sandø, A.B., Sorteberg, A., 2019. Climate in Svalbard 2100 – a knowledge base for climate adaptation. NCCS Report 01/2019.
- Jiao, Y., Kramshøj, M., Davie-Martin, C.L. et al. The active layer soils of Greenlandic permafrost areas can function as important sinks for volatile organic compounds. Communications Earth and Environment 6, 32 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02007-8
- Kramshøj, M., Albers, C.N., Holst, T. et al. Biogenic volatile release from permafrost thaw is determined by the soil microbial sink. Nature Communications 9, 3412 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05824-y
- Prater I. , Hrbáček F. , Braun C., Vidal A., Meier L. A., Nývlt D. , et al. How vegetation patches drive soil development and organic matter formation on polar islands. Geoderma Regional 2021 Vol. 27 Pages e00429 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2021.e00429
- Szymański W, Skiba M, Wojtuń B, Drewnik C (2015) Soil properties, micromorphology, and mineralogy of Cryosols from sorted and unsorted patterned grounds in the Hornsund area, SW Spitsbergen. Geoderma 253–254:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.03.029
- van der Meij, W.M., Riedesel, S., Reimann, T., 2025. Mixed signals: Interpreting soil mixing patterns of different biota through luminescence and numerical modelling. Soil 11, 51-66. Doi: 10.5194/soil-11-51-2025
- Wickström, S., Jonassen, M. O., Cassano, J. J., & Vihma, T. (2020). Present temperature, precipitation, and rain‐on‐snow climate in Svalbard. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125, e2019JD032155. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD032155
- Williams, L., Borchhardt, N., Colesie, C., Baum, C., Komsic-Buchmann, K., Rippin, M., Becker, B., Karsten, U., Büdel, B., 2017. Biological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston Island, Antarctica. Polar Biology 40, 399-411.
- Zinelabedin, A., Riedesel, S., Reimann, T., Ritter, B., Dunai, T., 2022. Testing the potential of using coarse-grain feldspars for post-IR IRSL dating of calcium sulphate-wedge growth in the Atacama Desert. Quaternary Geochronology 71, 101341.