Chemistry on Ice

Members of the 2016 Geodynamics Seminar rest after a 12-mile hike at the terminus of Skeiðarárjökull, on the southern edge of Iceland’s largest ice cap. Each year, the seminar takes an in-depth, interdisciplinary look at an ocean-related topic, such as (this year) ice dynamics. As ice caps and glaciers melt, they send vast amounts of fresh water into the ocean. In addition, glaciers grind bedrock into gravel, which is why the glacial ice (background) appears gray. Glaciers also wash critical elements and chemical compounds into the sea that help regulate the ocean’s biogeochemical cycles. (Photo by Julie van der Hoop, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)