New Scientist
Image: Bernd Thaller
From icy water comes life. The meltwater beneath Greenland’s glaciers is an important source of the silicon that some plankton need to build their glassy skeletons – and climate change could alter the input.
Plankton called diatoms use the oxidised form of silicon, silica, as they grow. The plankton mop up significant quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide as they photosynthesise, which they then take to the bottom of the oceanwith them when they die – a natural carbon sink.
But large plankton blooms might become less likely to form without the ready supply of silicon.
The base of glaciers is a hotbed of physical and chemical activity as the ice grinds away at the rock below. For instance, we know that the process frees up hundreds of thousands of tonnes of iron that is then carried to the sea in meltwater, fertilising the ocean and allowing plankton to thrive. Read more on newscientist.com…
