Arctic Lake Nutrient Chemistry Across Four Polar Regions

Nutrient chemistry data from 14 lakes across Greenland, Norway, Russia, and Alaska. Measurements include total phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll a, and dissolved organic carbon, collected on single occasions between April 2011 and March 2014. The data were compiled by the Environmental Information Data Centre for the Lakes and the Arctic Carbon Cycle project.

Use Cases

• Analyze correlations between total phosphorus and chlorophyll a concentrations to assess primary productivity across 14 Arctic lakes.
• Compare silicate, sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulphate, and chloride levels to characterize regional geochemical differences in Greenland, Norway, Russia, and Alaska.
• Model dissolved organic carbon as a function of total nitrogen and nitrate measurements from single-timepoint samples.
• Assess nutrient ratios like total nitrogen to total phosphorus across lakes to infer potential limiting factors for Arctic aquatic ecosystems.

Strengths

• Includes 14 distinct lake samples from four major Arctic regions.
• Covers 14 measured nutrient and chemical parameters using standardized methods.
• Data collection spans a nearly three-year period from 2011 to 2014.

Limitations

• Single measurement per lake limits temporal analysis and trend detection.
• Small sample size of 14 lakes may not represent the full heterogeneity of Arctic lake chemistry.
• Geographic coverage is limited to specific sites in four countries, not a systematic pan-Arctic survey.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Standardized nutrient chemistry measurements collected as part of the NERC-funded Lakes and the Arctic Carbon Cycle project.

Time Range

01/04/2011 to 14/03/2014

Freshness

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Geography

Lakes in Greenland, Norway, Russia, and Alaska