Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to analyze water samples from Arctic streams impacted by iron (Fe) seeps on National Park lands including Noatak National Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Surface water and hyporheic samples will be collected from unimpaired and impaired reaches, as well as at multiple locations within and downstream of impaired reaches to observe amelioration or persistence of Fe impacts along a longitudinal gradient. Recent observations from Arctic Alaska indicate that waters draining permafrost landscapes may be susceptible to iron and carbon mobilization following thaw. One visual indication of the altered iron-cycling processes is the abrupt change in the color of stream and river reaches, reflecting a dramatic shift in water quality.