River
River samples were collected from the Young Sound/Tyrolerfjord system in the High Arctic. The drainage basin is situated in the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s largest national park, where the Danish Sirius Patrol operate. The rivers are fed seasonally by melting glaciers or melting local snow piles. In west Greenland, samples were collected from Qeqertarsuaq, which means Large Island, otherwise known as Diskoøen in Danish.
TYROLER RIVER
Despite the name, the Tyroler River, is located in the Northeast Greenland National Park. The Tyroler River starts underneath the Greenland Ice Sheet, which covers all of Greenland, and during the melting season feeds thousands of streams. The river is loaded with inorganic particles, which glitter in the sun. However, before filling the bottles, the river water has been filtered and particles removed.
ZACKENBERG RIVER
The Zackenberg River has a very large catchment area and is connected to two lakes. It flows through lowland permafrost soils covered with vegetation types including dwarf shrub heath (Salix arctica) and grasses (e.g., Arctagrostis latifolia). However, the riverbed is rocky and without vegetation. The river has been a part of the Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring Program for decades and every year results are published in the Zackenberg Ecological Research Operation’s (ZERO) report.
DANEBORG - SNOW MELT RIVER
This little stream originates from the melting of local snowpacks and runs very close to the scientific field station located at Daneborg, home of the Danish dog sledge patrol, Sirius.
ATAA
This small stream is near the small settlement of Avannaata on the Nuussuaq Peninsula north of Disko Island. The stream is loaded with iron, which rusts and colours the stream an orange-brown. Small iron flecks can be seen in the Water Sample.
SAQQAQ
This stream is fed by local glaciers and runs a steep path into the
Vaigat Strait, the northern part of the ocean between Disco Island and mainland Greenland.
BEAR TRAP
This stream comes from local snow melt and runs down from the mountain close to the coast and enters the vast open ocean named Baffin Bay that lies between Canada (Baffin Island) and Greenland.