Meltwater geochemistry
Vast areas of the Northern hemisphere land surface are characterised by either veneers of glacial till or glacially eroded rock surfaces. These environments testify to the ability of former glacial activity to either promote or reduce rock-water contact.
Past research has emphasised the former by studying rock-water contact in contemporary glacial environments (Svalbard, the Karakoram, and the maritime Antarctic among others). Future studies will instead emphasise time-dependent variations in rock weathering reactions as glacial tills grow older and develop into soils. This involves field work in Northern Sweden as part of a Marie Curie MultiArc programme.
Relevant papers
- Hodson, A.J., Heaton, T., Langford, H. and Newsham, K. (2009). Chemical weathering and solute export by meltwater in a maritime Antarctic glacier basin. Biogeochemistry.
doi:10.1007/s10533-009-9372-2 - Hodson, A.J., Porter, P. Lowe, A and Mumford, P.N. (2002). Chemical denudation and silicate weathering in Himalayan glacier basins: Batura Glacier, Pakistan. Journal of Hydrology, 262, 193-208.
doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(02)00036-7 - Hodson, A.J., Tranter, M. and Vatne, G. (2000). Contemporary rates of chemical denudation and atmospheric CO2 sequestration in glacierised basins: an Arctic perspective. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 25(13), 1447-1471.
doi:10.1002/1096-9837(200012)25:13<1447::AID-ESP156>3.0.CO;2-9