237 Challenges and Solutions for a Changing Climate: New Directions for GSA

Friday, 30 October 2020
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Auditorium

BIOGEOCHEMICAL HAZARDS OF A THAWING ARCTIC

Paper number: 237-18
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 12:30 PM – 12:35 PM

Authors

Abstract

Arctic permafrost degradation is introducing biogeochemical hazards into the local and global environment. Known paleo-ecological hazards that may cause uncertain ecosystem impacts in the present include methanogenic bacteria, viruses, bacteria, and pathogens. These emergent species join a variety of modern biogeochemical hazards in the Arctic, including banned pesticides like DDT, mercury, and nuclear materials previously sequestered in permafrost. The preservation of frozen permafrost is critical to mitigating a punctuated release of these compounds into the local environment, however, adaptation and remediation may be more prudent in a warming world. This talk will identify the types of hazards presented by permafrost degradation, the pathways of exposure, and the socio-environmental impacts of chemical mobilization through the environment.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 52, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-356331

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