This story was originally Appeared in high country news is part of climate desk collaboration.
Dozens of once-clear streams and rivers in Arctic Alaska now run bright orange, cloudy, and in some cases more acidic. The year seems to be working, and scientists want to know why.
Roman Dial, a professor of biology and mathematics at the University of Alaska Pacific, first noticed a drastic change in water quality during fieldwork in the Brooks Mountains in 2020. He spent a month with his team of six graduate students, but not enough drinking water. “There are so many streams that are not only dirty, but so acidic that they curdle formula,” he said.
During the past 40 years of exploring the Arctic, Dial has collected data on changes in Alaska’s treeline due to climate change. The project also includes the work of ecologist Patrick Sullivan, director of the University’s Environmental and Natural Resources Laboratory. Professor Becky Hewitt of his Anchorage, Alaska, and Professor of Environmental Studies at Amherst College. Now the team is delving into the mysteries of water quality. “It’s like being a graduate student again in a lab you know nothing about, and that fascinates me,” he says.
Most of the Rusty Waterways are located in Alaska’s most remote protected areas. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic National Park Gates and Reserves, Kovac Valley National Park, and Selawik Wildlife Refuge.
This phenomenon is visually striking. “It looks like something was broken open or exposed in a way that has never been exposed before,” Dial said. “Every Hard Rock geologist who sees these pictures says, ‘Oh, that looks like acid mine waste.'” But it’s not mine waste. Researchers say the rusty coating on rocks and riverbanks comes from the land itself.
A leading hypothesis is that climate warming is causing the underlying permafrost to degrade. Iron-rich sediments are released, and when those sediments hit running water or the outdoors, they oxidize and turn a deep rusty orange. Oxidation of minerals in the soil can also increase water acidity. there is. The research team is in the early stages of the process of identifying causes to better explain the results.”I think the pH issue of water acidity is really worrying,” Hewitt said. I’m here. Although pH regulates many biological and chemical processes in streams and rivers, its exact effects on the complex food webs that exist in these waterways are unknown. From fish to bed bugs to plant communities, the researchers aren’t sure what changes will occur.
Alaskan river rust can also affect human societies. Rivers such as the Kobuku and Ulik rivers where rusting has been observed also serve as drinking water sources for many Alaska Native communities in northwestern Alaska. According to Sullivan, if water quality continues to deteriorate, a major concern is how it will affect the species that are the primary source of food for Alaska Natives, who live subsistence lifestyles. It’s one.
