The GreenFjord project that spans 4 years (03.2022 – 02-2026) aims to understand the effect of climate change on the Fjords ecosystem, biodiversity and livelihood. PFL’s SENSE group participated in the GreenFjord Flagship campaign aboard the Greenlandic research vessel SANNA, carrying out marine operations in two fjords in Southwest Greenland near Narsaq and Qaqortoq
The campaign went well overall, thanks in particular to the admirable Greenlandic crew, who were very efficient and friendly, not hesitating to take the ship as close as possible to the many icebergs dotting one of the two fjords.
Date : August 22 – September 06, 2023
Location : Southwest Greenland (Narsaq – Qaqortoq); ~60.7–61.9° N, 46.1–49.1° W, altitude 0–500 m.
Narsaq ≈ 60.91° N, 46.05° W
Qaqortoq ≈ 60.72° N, 46.03° W;
Team members : Samuel Jaccard, Julia Schmale, Jérôme Chappellaz, Sébastien Lavanchy, Christel Hassler, and additional researchers from EPFL and ETH.
Activities: The team conducted water sampling down to 600 m depth for geochemical analyses and environmental DNA (e-DNA; in collaboration with ETH Zürich). We deployed the SubOcean laser probe to characterize methane fluxes in the fjords and investigated whether subglacial meltwaters contribute significantly to methane emissions. The campaign yielded valuable datasets now available for laboratory processing.
