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Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Laser-Induced Fluorescence Emission L.I.F.E. as Novel Non-Invasive Tool for In-Situ Measurements of Biomarkers in Cryospheric Habitats
Published on: October 26, 2019
Mineral phosphorus drives glacier algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet
Jenine McCutcheon1,2, Stefanie Lutz3, Christopher Williamson4,5
1School of Earth & Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. jenine.mccutcheon@uwaterloo.ca.
Abstract:
Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is a leading cause of land-ice mass loss and cryosphere-attributed sea level rise. Blooms of pigmented glacier ice algae lower ice albedo and accelerate surface melting in the ice sheet's southwest sector. Although glacier ice algae cause up to 13% of the surface melting in this region, the controls on bloom development remain poorly understood. Here we show a direct link between mineral phosphorus in surface ice and glacier ice algae biomass through the quantification of solid and fluid phase phosphorus reservoirs in surface habitats across the southwest ablation zone of the ice sheet. We demonstrate that nutrients from mineral dust likely drive glacier ice algal growth, and thereby identify mineral dust as a secondary control on ice sheet melting.
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