Thawing glacial and permafrost features contribute to nitrogen export from Green Lakes Valley, Colorado Front Range, USA

Alpine ecosystems are particularly susceptible to disturbance due to their short growing seasons, sparse vegetation and thin soils. Increased nitrogen deposition in wetfall and changes in climate currently affect Green Lakes Valley within the Colorado Front Range. Research conducted within the alpine links chronic nitrogen inputs to a suite of ecological impacts, resulting in increased nitrate export. The atmospheric nitrogen flux decreased by 0.56 kg ha(-1) year(-1) between 2000 and 2009, due to decreased precipitation; however alpine nitrate yields increased by 40 % relative to the previous decade (1990-1999). Long term trends indicate that weathering products such as sulfate, calcium, and silica have also increased over the same period. The geochemical composition of thawing permafrost, as indicated by rock glacial and blockfield meltwater, suggests it is the source of these weathering products. Furthermore, mass balance models indicate the high ammonium loads within glacial meltwater are rapidly nitrified, contributing similar to 0.5-1.4 kg N ha(-1) to the growing season nitrate flux from the alpine watershed. The sustained export of these solutes during dry, summer months is likely facilitated by thawing cryosphere providing hydraulic connectivity late into the growing season. This mechanism is further supported by the lack of upward weathering or nitrogen solute trends in a neighboring catchment which lacks permafrost and glacial features. These findings suggest that reductions of atmospheric nitrogen deposition alone may not improve water quality, as cryospheric thaw exposes soils to biological and geochemical processes that may affect alpine nitrate concentrations as much as atmospheric deposition trends.