Field course: Role of the Alps in the Global Carbon Cycle
Together with Timothy Eglinton (ETH Biogeosciences group) and Kurt Hanselmann, we recently led a field course for ETH Master’s students on the “Role of the Alps in the Global Carbon Cycle”.
Below are some of the topics we covered:
Lithology controls on terrestrial ecosystems. How does bedrock lithology influence soil development and the types of plants that can grow on hillslopes? Are there clear differences between soil depth, organic carbon content, and production rate between serpentine, carbonate, and gneiss lithologies? Which aspects of the bedrock lithology promote these differences? In this aspect of the course, students gained hands-on experience identifying the controls on soils and terrestrial ecosystems.
Comparison between gneiss and serpentine lithologies:
Nutrient and carbon cycling in glacier-fed, high-alpine lakes. Which microorganisms can survive in high-alpine, mostly oligotrophic lakes? Where do they source their nutrients? Are all lakes created equal, or does the drainage network, water residence time, overturning, etc. influence the resulting microbiology? In this aspect of the course, students collected water, nutrient, and carbon samples from a suite of lakes fed by Jöri Glacier (Jöriseen) to test these questions.
Geobiology of sulfur- and iron-rich springs. How do some groundwater springs exhibit such high sulfur and iron concentrations? Which geologic conditions are required for this to occur? Which microorganisms can exploit these concentration gradients to make a living, harvesting energy by oxidizing sulfur or iron? In this aspect of the course, students gained hands-on experience and learned the geobiological responses to different geologic features by analyzing several springs in the lower Engadin Valley.