Solute Acquisition in Glacial Melt Waters. I. Fjallsjökull (South-East Iceland): Bulk Melt Waters with Closed-System Characteristics

Abstract

AbstractVariations in dissolved cations, total alkalinity, sulphate, and field pH are recorded for samples of precipitation, supraglacial melt, and bulk melt waters (those emerging at the portal) from Fjallsjökull (south-east Iceland). The composition of supraglacial melt indicates derivation from precipitation by the acquisition of solutes from the weathering and dissolution of rock debris, in a system open to atmospheric carbon dioxide. Bulk melt waters have variable compositions, approaching saturation with calcite, which can be derived from supraglacial melt water by continued solute acquisition in a system closed to atmospheric carbon dioxide. Solute–discharge relationships suggest that chemical evolution of the bulk melt waters occurs when aggressive englacial waters are mixed with the solute and sediment-rich subglacial component. Simple mixing behaviour occurs over intermediate discharges as long as variations in the extent of post-mixing evolution are small compared to changes in the mixing ratio.