Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2014

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Oral

Symbol M (Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary) » M-IS Intersection

[M-IS21_28PM1] Biogeochemistry

Mon. Apr 28, 2014 2:15 PM - 4:00 PM 511 (5F)

Convener:*Muneoki Yoh(Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology), Hideaki Shibata(Field Science Center fot Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University), Naohiko Ohkouchi(Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), Youhei Yamashita(Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University), Chair:Ichiro Tayasu(Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University), Tomoya Iwata(Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Yamanashi), Rota Wagai(National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Carbon & Nutrient Cycling Division), Kazuya Nishina(National Institute for Enviromental Studies)

3:00 PM - 3:15 PM

[MIS21-15] Biogeochemistry on glaciers and icesheets ? Microbial process of glacier darkening and material cycles

*Nozomu TAKEUCHI1 (1.Chiba University)

Keywords:glacier, Greenland, albedo, algae, microbe, carbon cycle

Glaciers and icesheets have been reported to shrink worldwide, probably caused by recent global warming. They are inhabited by diverse organisms, which adapted to the cold environment. Snow and ice algae grow photosynthetically on their surface and sustain heterotrophic microbes. Organic matter including their bodies and products can reduce surface albedo and accelerate melting of glaciers. Thus, shrinkage of glaciers and icesheets is not only due to climate change, but also possibly due to change of glacier ecosystems. Therefore, it is important to assess quantitatively biogeochemical process of carbon and nitrogen cycles on glaciers. In this talk, I would like to review our present knowledge on glacial ecosystems including Asian and polar glaciers and discuss possible reasons of recent darkening of the Greenland icesheet.