# data[].attributes.headline
Mississippi River: Reviving floodplain to reduce Gulf of Mexico's dead zone

# data[].attributes.subject
Mississippi River: Reviving floodplain to reduce Gulf of Mexico's dead zone

# data[].attributes.body
In this article it discussed how researches think that it would be a good idea to revive the floodplain. This is one of the Mississippi River's main filters of water and it is a unique environment that removes nitrogen. Nitrogen is one of the components to the harm of the Gulf of Mexico and a contributor to the dead zone. In the past century the river has become way more polluted in particular with chemical pollutants like nitrogen fertilizer which can be very bad for the water being a good source. The researchers discussed the idea of reconnecting the river and the floodplain because the dead zone at this point covers 5,000 miles. For all areas of the river it would not be possible to reconnect the floodplain and the Mississippi River but their have definitely been areas identified that would be able to be reconnected.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
from research organizations
Credit: Joseph Baustian, The Nature Conservancy
Huckleberry Finn wouldn't recognize today's lower Mississippi River. Massive walls separate the river from low-lying lands along the bank, an area called the floodplain. Floodplains were once the spillover zone for the river. As people settled in floodplains, the land was converted into farms, homes, and businesses. Close to 1,700 miles of walls, or levees, keep the lower Mississippi River in check.

"It's less of a river and more of pipe now," says John White, a coastal scientist at Louisiana State University (LSU).

Over the last century, the amount of chemical pollutants, in particular nitrogen fertilizer, in the river increased dramatically. When the river reaches the Gulf of Mexico, the pollutants create a low oxygen "dead zone" covering over 5,000 square miles. That's partly because the Mississippi River is missing one of its main filters: the floodplain.

White and his colleagues at LSU research ways to remove pollutants from the river. One method is reconnecting the river to the floodplain. As rivers flow into floodplains they carry soils with them, creating a wetland. Wetlands trap chemical pollutants like nitrogen. The low oxygen and high organic matter in a wetland create a unique environment. As bacteria adapt to this environment, they convert fertilizer nitrogen into a benign nitrogen gas.

"There's a whole subset of microorganisms that do this," says White. "You just have to get the process going."

Reconnecting the river to the floodplain isn't likely for most of the lower Mississippi valley, which runs from the Gulf of Mexico to northern Arkansas and Tennessee. However, a farm along one of the Mississippi's tributaries recently became a floodplain on accident. The levee next to the farm broke in two places and flooded the area.

Fortunately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) had plans with the farm to break the levee and added another 4 breaks the following year to speed up the process. The USFW and The Nature Conservancy were already in the process of recreating a hardwood forest wetland on the farm. This type of ecosystem once covered most of the region, but only 20 percent remains.

It was a perfect opportunity for White and his graduate student, Nia Hurst, to study how the restored site compares to a natural floodplain. He and his team measured the levels of nitrogen removal from both the farm and a nearby forested wetland. The group also compared the soil properties of the two sites.

They discovered that the restored site removed almost as much nitrogen as the natural floodplain. The nitrogen removal rate was only 28% lower at the restored site compared to the natural one.

"The good news is that even though it hasn't been restored for very long, the process of nitrogen removal has an almost immediate return," says White.

However, some of the other wetland soil characteristics hadn't bounced back yet. Microbial properties that help wetlands filter pollutants, store carbon, or help plants grow weren't nearly as healthy as the natural site. White says the area still has a long way to go before it's fully restored.

"It's going to take time to go back and we're not sure if it will ever go back," White comments, "But any project that we can do to take out that nitrogen helps the river and the coastal waters."

White says there are only a few studies that show a restored ecosystem's path towards recovery. This research traces the site's baby steps toward becoming a wetland. It also proves that floodplains -- natural or created -- can significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the Gulf of Mexico.

Journal Reference:

Nia Hurst, John R. White, Joseph Baustian. Nitrate Reduction in a Hydrologically Restored Bottomland Hardwood Forest in the Mississippi River Watershed, Northern Louisiana. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2016; 80 (6): 1698 DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2016.08.0250

Cite This Page:

Below are relevant articles that may interest you. ScienceDaily shares links and proceeds with scholarly publications in the TrendMD network.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
floods; air pollution; ecology; air quality; water; oil spills; geochemistry; hurricanes and cyclones

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mississippi River: Reviving floodplain to reduce Gulf of Mexico's dead zone

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
from research organizations Credit: Joseph Baustian, The Nature Conservancy Huckleberry Finn wouldn't recognize today's lower Mississippi River. Massive walls separate the river from low-lying lands along the bank, an area called the floodplain. Floodplains were once the spillover zone for the river. As people settled in floodplains, the land was converted into farms, homes, and businesses.

# data[].attributes.headline
Caves in central China show history of natural flood patterns

# data[].attributes.subject
Caves in central China show history of natural flood patterns

# data[].attributes.body
At the University of Minnesota researches found that data supported the finding of 500 year cycles of precipitation in Central China. In the future the information could be helpful in predicting flooding and having a better understanding of the weather conditions. In particular when focusing on climate change many things can be learned from past weather conditions. A technology called the speleothem can provide more than 8,000 years worth of data for researchers. The data was gained through researching the magnetic properties of layered stalagmites.  With the new technology the rocks could be studied with higher resolution and sensitivity than before. This also measures how tectonic plates have moved over time around the globe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found that major flooding and large amounts of precipitation occur on 500-year cycles in central China. These findings shed light on the forecasting of future floods and improve understanding of climate change over time and the potential mechanism of strong precipitation in monsoon regions.

The research is published in the published in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS).

"To predict how climate change will impact the future, it's important to know what has happened in the past," said Joshua Feinberg, a University of Minnesota associate professor of Earth Sciences and associate director of the Institute for Rock Magnetism, who supervised the research.

"As the variability and intensity of storms increase in the world, we need to reevaluate what the frequency of these major storms could be," Feinberg said. "We didn't have the potential to develop these kinds of precipitation records for most of the world, until now. These speleothems provide more than 8,000 years of data that led us to identify with strong confidence the presence of a 500-year cycle," he added

The research used stalagmites collected from Heshang Cave in central China within the Yangtze River drainage. Researchers measured the magnetic properties of layered stalagmites, or columnar mineral deposits formed in caves by the growth of carbonate minerals from dripping groundwater. As they form over time, stalagmites develop annual layers of the mineral calcite, which are broadly similar to the rings of a tree. They also collect iron-rich magnetic materials within these layers, which originated in overlying soil and are transported into the cave during precipitation and flooding events. These iron-rich minerals are far less than the width of human hair in size, but produce a strong magnetic signal that can be easily measured by modern magnetometers.

Feinberg and his team analyzed the magnetic properties of the layered stalagmites and discovered more than 8,000 years of data within the materials. The magnetic data varied in such a way as to trace out a 500-year cycle of storm variation, where wetter intervals showed an increased concentration of magnetic minerals. This correlates well with the cycles of El Niño Southern Oscillation pattern and measured changes in the amount of the energy from the sun. The cycle can be used to anticipate broad precipitation patterns in the future, and provide insight on climate change in the region over time. Feinberg and his team hope to expand this work wherever possible around the globe.

With the help of the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM), based at the University of Minnesota, the group was able to measure the magnetic materials within the speleothems to at a higher resolution and sensitivity than previously possible. Many rocks record the direction and strength of the Earth's magnetic field at the time of their formation. By measuring these magnetizations, researchers are able to show how tectonic plates have moved around the globe through time, as well as how the Earth's magnetic field has varies over timescales ranging from millions of years to decades. The short-term behavior of the Earth's magnetic field has important ramifications for satellites and satellite communication.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
geomagnetic storms; atmosphere; caving; water; early climate; fossils; archaeology; evolution

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Caves in central China show history of natural flood patterns: Researchers use cave structures to identify historical precipitation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Researchers have found that major flooding and large amounts of precipitation occur on 500-year cycles in central China. These findings shed light on the forecasting of future floods and improve understanding of climate change over time and the potential mechanism of strong precipitation in monsoon regions.

# data[].attributes.body
Researchers were curious to collect more data about why certain types of trees are able to survive in droughts in comparison to other types of trees. The information would be helpful to researches in predicting how and what kind of trees would be effected in future droughts. The data that was most significant that they drew was that trees that were already from really dry areas were more susceptible to being affected by droughts. Also trees that are in denser forests have more competition amongst one another for water from the ground as well as rainfall. Southern Sierra Nevada trees were found to be the most susceptible to not surviving in droughts because they are in crowded groups. An example they gave in the article was that the trees were like straws in a glass of water all competing for the same water. The recommendations of the researches to forest managers trying to make the most money is to worry about the density of the forests and when replanting new ones make sure they are planted with lower density than before after wildfires.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why do some trees die in a drought and others don't? And how can we predict where trees are most likely to die in future droughts?

Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues examined those questions in a study published in the journal Ecology Letters.

Using climate data and aerial tree mortality surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service during four years (2012-2015) of extreme drought in California, they found that when a drought hits the region, trees growing in areas that are already dry are most susceptible.

The research also showed that the effects of drought on forests can take years to surface, suggesting that such effects may linger even after the drought has ended.
Southern Sierra Nevada trees are most vulnerable
The study said that trees in the driest and densest forests are the most at risk of dying in an extreme drought. In California, that makes crowded stands of trees in the Southern Sierra Nevada the most vulnerable in the state.

The concept is simple: Trees in dense forests are like multiple straws competing for the same glass of water. In wet climate conditions, that competition goes largely unnoticed. But when it's dry, few are able to quench their thirst, setting the stage for mass mortality.
'How much drought a tree can take'
"Our analysis found out how much drought a tree can take," said UC Davis Ph.D. student Derek Young, who co-led the study with Jens Stevens, a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher during the study who is currently at UC Berkeley, and Mason Earles, a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University. "If forest managers want to get the biggest bang for their buck in reducing forest vulnerability to drought, this study suggests they should focus on the densest stands in the driest areas. And when we reestablish forests burned by severe wildfire in these areas, we should plant at lower densities from the beginning."

Tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada in 2015 was the worst in recorded history. The U.S. Forest Service aerial tree mortality surveys in 2015 estimated 29 million trees in California had died after four years of extreme drought.

Though the drought began in 2012, major effects on trees did not appear immediately. While some trees died every year, mortality spiked only in the fourth year of extreme drought.
Tree mortality a delayed reaction
In a blog post he wrote on the subject in May 2016, Young noted: "This observation highlights the fact that tree mortality can take several years to respond to drought. Such a delayed response is often observed in studies of drought stress, and the existence of this delayed response hints that we are likely to observe high mortality well into 2016 and potentially beyond, especially in Southern California."

Indeed, surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2016 estimated an additional 62 million trees died that year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
drought; trees; botany; nature; drought research; forest; severe weather; wildfires

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How much drought can a forest take? Aerial tree mortality surveys show patterns of tree death during extreme drought

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why do some trees die in a drought and others don't? And how can we predict where trees are most likely to die in future droughts? Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues examined those questions in a study published in the journal Ecology Letters.

# data[].attributes.headline
Extreme space weather-induced blackouts could cost US more than $40 billion daily

# data[].attributes.subject
Extreme space weather-induced blackouts could cost US more than $40 billion daily

# data[].attributes.body
Studies have been made in the past in order to estimate the cost of blackouts but they had failed in accurately predicting and including two components. Indirect domestic as well as international supply chain loss are the two areas that have been overlooked.  If an extreme blackout situation were to occur in which a large part of the US population was affected about 66% then it could total almost 50 billion all together in cost. Some people even fear that if blackouts were to occur they could last weeks to months because transmission networks would have to be replaced. Often big storms occur in space but very rarely do they effect the earth or the US. When estimated what other countries would lose from a blackout there were high numbers as well. It was predicted that out of all the other countries China would lose out on the most money because of all the trading between the US and China.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The daily U.S. economic cost from solar storm-induced electricity blackouts could be in the tens of billions of dollars, with more than half the loss from indirect costs outside the blackout zone, according to a new study.

Previous studies have focused on direct economic costs within the blackout zone, failing to take into account indirect domestic and international supply chain loss from extreme space weather.

"On average the direct economic cost incurred from disruption to electricity represents only 49 percent of the total potential macroeconomic cost," says the paper published in Space Weather, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. The paper was co-authored by researchers from the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies at University of Cambridge Judge Business School; British Antarctic Survey; British Geological Survey and University of Cape Town.

Under the study's most extreme blackout scenario, affecting 66 percent of the U.S. population, the daily domestic economic loss could total $41.5 billion plus an additional $7 billion loss through the international supply chain.

Electrical engineering experts are divided on the possible severity of blackouts caused by "Coronal Mass Ejections," or magnetic solar fields ejected during solar flares and other eruptions. Some believe that outages would last only hours or a few days because electrical collapse of the transmission system would protect electricity generating facilities, while others fear blackouts could last weeks or months because those transmission networks could in fact be knocked out and need replacement.

Extreme space weather events occur often, but only sometimes affecting Earth. The best-known geomagnetic storm affected Quebec in 1989, sparking the electrical collapse of the Hydro-Quebec power grid and causing a widespread blackout for about nine hours.

There was a very severe solar storm in 1859 known as the "Carrington event" (after the name of a British astronomer). A widely cited 2012 paper by Pete Riley of Predictive Sciences Inc. said that the probability of another Carrington event occurring within the next decade is around 12 percent; a 2013 report by insurer Lloyd's, produced in collaboration with Atmospheric and Environmental Research, said that while the probability of an extreme solar storm is "relatively low at any given time, it is almost inevitable that one will occur eventually."

"We felt it was important to look at how extreme space weather may affect domestic U.S. production in various economic sectors, including manufacturing, government and finance, as well as the potential economic loss in other nations owing to supply chain linkages," says study co-author Edward Oughton of the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies at Cambridge Judge Business School. "It was surprising that there had been a lack of transparent research into these direct and indirect costs, given the uncertainty surrounding the vulnerability of electrical infrastructure to solar incidents."

The study's scope was guided by a July 2015 conference held at Cambridge Judge.

The study looks at three geographical scenarios for blackouts caused by extreme space weather, depending on the latitudes affected by different types of incidents.

If only extreme northern states are affected, with 8 percent of the U.S. population, the economic loss per day could reach $6.2 billion supplemented by an international supply chain loss of $0.8 billion. A scenario affecting 23 percent of the population could have a daily cost of $16.5 billion plus $2.2 billion internationally, while a scenario affecting 44 percent of the population could have a daily cost of $37.7 billion in the US plus $4.8 billion globally. (The study is calculated using 2011 U.S. dollars.)

Manufacturing is the U.S. economic sector most affected by those solar-induced blackouts, followed by government, finance and insurance, and property. Outside of the U.S., China would be most affected by the indirect cost of such U.S. blackouts, followed by Canada and Mexico -- as "these countries provide a greater proportion of raw materials, and intermediate goods and services, used in production by U.S. firms."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
solar flare; sun; northern lights; energy policy; energy technology; electricity; geomagnetic storms; weather; energy and the environment; energy issues; economics; education and employment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Extreme space weather-induced blackouts could cost US more than $40 billion daily: New study finds more than half the loss occurs outside the blackout zone

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The daily U.S. economic cost from solar storm-induced electricity blackouts could be in the tens of billions of dollars, with more than half the loss from indirect costs outside the blackout zone, according to a new study.

# data[].attributes.headline
Bioinvasion is jeopardizing Mediterranean marine communities

# data[].attributes.subject
Bioinvasion is jeopardizing Mediterranean marine communities

# data[].attributes.body
Recently, in the Mediterranean sea it has become a problem that invasive species are beginning to hurt marine communities. The indigenous species and habitats are being greatly effected by the species invasion. This was caused originally because the Suez Canal was extended in 2015. When this occurred many of the species that were not native to the mediterranean sea were released and able to reach these new waters. A professor said that the Mediterranean sea is now the most invaded marine basin in the entire world. A management policy to stop the invasive species has attempted to form but it has been a slow process. So far nothing has actually passed through the system even though it may be critical to do so. A lot of animals in the sea are vulnerable to extinction. Being able to pass a law that would help this invaded marine area would be the best step they can take for the Mediterranean Sea for now.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Non-indigenous species (NIS) are harming indigenous species and habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, impairing potentially exploitable marine resources and raising concern about human health issues, according to a new Tel Aviv University study.

The 2015 expansion of the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important corridors of commerce, facilitated an influx of non-indigenous species into the Mediterranean Sea, according to Prof. Bella Galil of the Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies at TAU's Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, the lead author of a study published last month in Management of Biological Invasions.

"The Mediterranean Sea is the most invaded marine basin in the world," says Prof. Galil. "The number of NIS greatly increased between 1970 and 2015. 750 multicellular non-indigenous species were recorded in the Mediterranean Sea, far more than in other European seas, because of the ever-increasing number of Red Sea species introduced through the Suez Canal. This raises concerns about the increasing introductions of additional NIS and associated degradation and loss of native populations, habitats and ecosystem services."
A slow reaction
The development and implementation of a management policy have been slow, despite a century of scientific documentation of marine bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea. The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Seas Programme, adopted an "Action Plan concerning species introductions and invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea" in 2003. But the UNEP has "shied away from discussing, let alone managing, the influx of tropical non-indigenous biota introduced through the Suez Canal. So far no prevention and management measures have been implemented," according to Prof. Galil and her associates.

In their new study, the authors present data that marine-protected areas in the eastern Mediterranean, from Turkey to Libya, have been overwhelmed by non-indigenous species and serve as veritable "hot spots" of bioinvasion. Biotic communities are already fragile, suffering from humanmade stressors such as pollution and overfishing. The colonization of these communities by NIS redistributes nutritional resources, removes important actors and renders them more susceptible to extinction.

Eastern Mediterranean algae-dominated rocky habitats have been decimated by large populations of herbivorous fish introduced through the Suez Canal. The two voracious grazers, Siganus luridus and S. rivulatus, have transformed lush rocky reefs into "barrens," dramatically reducing habitat complexity and altering the community structure and food web. Within 30 years, a small Red Sea mussel has replaced the native mytilid along the entire Mediterranean coast of Israel, forming dense nearly mono-specific species "carpets."
A hope for effective intervention
The authors of the study led a discussion on effective management of non-indigenous species introductions into the Mediterranean Sea at a EuroMarine workshop that took place in Ischia, Italy, in 2016. The discussion resulted in the "Ischia Declaration" that laid down principles for an effective, science-based, transboundary management. The declaration was approved by the general assembly of EuroMarine, a network of 73 research institutions and universities, funded by the European Union.

"We hope that this new research will be used to construct a science-based effective management of marine bioinvasions, and prevent, or at least minimize, the influx of additional non-indigenous species into the Mediterranean," says Prof. Galil. "Time will tell whether these aims are achieved or legislators and management continue to put off confronting this difficult issue and pass the environmental, economic and social burden to future generations."

The researchers are currently investigating pollution and other NIS-related factors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
fish; nature; marine biology; new species; exotic species; environmental awareness; oceanography; ecology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bioinvasion is jeopardizing Mediterranean marine communities: Non-indigenous organisms introduced through the Suez Canal are causing irreversible damage, say researchers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Non-indigenous species (NIS) are harming indigenous species and habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, impairing potentially exploitable marine resources and raising concern about human health issues, according to a new Tel Aviv University study. The 2015 expansion of the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important corridors of commerce, facilitated an influx of non-indigenous species into the Mediterranean Sea, according to Prof.

# data[].attributes.headline
Arctic melt ponds form when meltwater clogs ice pores

# data[].attributes.subject
Arctic melt ponds form when meltwater clogs ice pores

# data[].attributes.body
This article discusses how a group of researchers have determined how pools of water can sit on top of porous ice. A lot of people have no understood this way of melting because it seems that usually pools form within hard surfaces that don't melt. In the arctic when spring comes the ice begins to melt and pools form on top of the ice. Then these large dark pools of water are able to accelerate the melting of the ice because they absorb more of the solar energy coming down from the sun. What people have always questioned is how exactly these ponds form. The team was able to recreate the of water pools on top of ice. They were researching about algae growth and this was a related topic to their study. They also had the right tools with them to figure this out. When doing a test for algae they found that the ice was less cold in comparison to the fresh seawater that was freezing that was forming the pools. The colder water basically clogged up the pores of the ice and made it so the water could not run through it. The researchers are hoping that this new information will be able to help predict where the melt pools will form in the future based on temperatures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
from research organizations

When spring comes to the Arctic, the breakup of the cold winter ice sheets starts at the surface with the formation of melt ponds. These pools of melted snow and ice darken the surface of the ice, increasing the amount of solar energy the ice sheet absorbs and accelerating melt. A team including University of Utah mathematician Kenneth Golden has determined how these melt ponds form, solving a paradoxical mystery of how a pool of water actually sits atop highly porous ice. Their results are published in Journal of Geophysical Research -- Oceans.

"Here we're presented with this fundamental puzzle," Golden says. "How in the world do you form ponds? When they form, how deep they are, and their areal extent is absolutely critical for how the ice is going to melt."

Golden studies the dynamics of sea ice, which is a composite system of solids and liquids of varying salinity and chemistry. Melt ponds are a focus of his research because they dramatically affect the albedo, or reflectiveness, of the sea ice, one of the most important parameters in climate modeling. They also may allow more light to penetrate through the ice, allowing algae to proliferate in the seawater beneath.

In 2014, Golden, along with study first author Chris Polashenski of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory and colleagues traveled aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy to the Chukchi Sea, between Alaska and Siberia, to investigate massive algae blooms below the ice, which had been first observed in 2011. As part of their study they needed to measure the permeability of the ice. Permeability is a measure of how well interconnected voids and channels within a material allow fluid to flow through.

Their first attempt involved drilling a hole in the ice down below the "freeboard level," or water table, to see how quickly the water filled the hole back in.

"It filled up to the freeboard level in about a second and a half," Golden says, indicating the ice was too permeable to make a measurement. Next, the team tried to add water to the hole to see how quickly the water level re-equilibrated to the freeboard level. They planned several attempts, and noticed that in the second attempt, the water level fell much more slowly than in the first attempt.

"And then the third time was the charm," Golden says. The team poured water into the hole and the level didn't go down at all. "We formed a melt pond!" he says. Intrigued, the team tested different levels of water salinity in boreholes and used dyes to trace the progress of the water through the ice. (The team used red and green food coloring from the Healy's kitchen, Golden says). All of their experimentation pointed to a clear mechanism for melt pond formation.

"The freezing point of the fresh meltwater from snow is zero Celsius," Golden says. "But the ice itself is maybe -1 or -1.5. The freezing point of seawater is -1.8. So basically, you're getting this infusion of fresh water and there's enough cold there to clog up the pores. You're lowering the permeability of the ice by this process of freezing freshwater plugs into the porous microstructure." With lowered permeability, the meltwater can form a pool on top of the ice.

Others, including Polashenski, had speculated that such a process might be behind melt pond formation, Golden says, but that his team was in the right place at the right time with the right equipment to put the story together in the field. Hopefully, he says, understanding the conditions that lead to melt pond formation can help scientists predict where and when ponds might form as Arctic temperatures continue to rise.

Journal Reference:

Chris Polashenski, Kenneth M. Golden, Donald K. Perovich, Eric Skyllingstad, Alexandra Arnsten, Carolyn Stwertka, Nicholas Wright. Percolation blockage: A process that enables melt pond formation on first year Arctic Sea ice. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/2016JC011994

Cite This Page:

Below are relevant articles that may interest you. ScienceDaily shares links and proceeds with scholarly publications in the TrendMD network.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
global warming; ice ages; snow and avalanches; climate; water; oceanography; ecosystems; drought research

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Arctic melt ponds form when meltwater clogs ice pores

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
from research organizations When spring comes to the Arctic, the breakup of the cold winter ice sheets starts at the surface with the formation of melt ponds. These pools of melted snow and ice darken the surface of the ice, increasing the amount of solar energy the ice sheet absorbs and accelerating melt.