Behavior of rare earth elements and yttrium during simulation of arctic estuarine mixing between glacial-fed river waters and seawater and the impact of inorganic (nano-)particles

摘要

Rivers are the major source of many trace elements to the oceans. As a consequence of climate change, increasing volumes of glacial meltwater enter the oceans after being affected by estuarine processes. Although the behavior of high field strength elements such as the rare earth elements and yttrium (REY) has been intensively studied in tropical, temperate and boreal estuaries, little is known about arctic estuarine mixing of glacial-fed river waters that are poor in organic nanoparticles and colloids (NPCs), but rich in inorganic NPCs. Here we provide the first data set from estuarine mixing experiments with glacial-fed river waters and seawater. The glacial-fed river water endmembers originate from southern Iceland (sampled in 2010 and 2013) and from West Greenland (sampled in 2013); these endmembers are rich in NPCs and larger particles of (glassy) volcanic ash and of ultra-fine rock flour, respectively.