The Polar Retrospective – Siberian rivers and Trump’s cheque

by Polar Journal AG Team
04/22/2025

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at a study examining the routes taken by substances from Siberian rivers to travel across the Arctic ocean and an Ilulissat politician reacts to the Trump administration’s plan.

Rivers in the Arctic can take many forms, as meltwater rivers that flow on Greenland ice sheet. Image: Janin Schaffer, Alfred-Wegener-Institute

The Polar Retrospective is a collaborative effort by the editorial team of polarjournal.net. Each writer chooses a topic they found interesting and important in the past week. The initials at the end of each section indicate the author. We hope you enjoy it.

When Siberian rivers travel across the Arctic Ocean

The Lena, shown here in a Landsat 7 false-color composite image, is one of the three rivers, along with the Ob and Yenisei, that flow into the Arctic Ocean. Image: Landsat 7

An international study led by the University of Bristol and published in Nature Communications reveals the variable, climate-sensitive routes taken by substances from Siberian rivers to cross the Arctic Ocean.

The researchers analyzed samples of seawater, sea ice and snow taken during the MOSAiC expedition. Using geochemical fingerprinting such as oxygen and neodymium isotopes, they were able to follow the course of river materials over an entire year.

Among the discoveries made was the active role of sea ice, which traps and transports a complex mixture of materials from multiple rivers, modifying dispersal patterns. The results also call into question the idea of a stable transpolar drift, suggesting instead that this current is highly variable in space and time.

Transpolar drift transports freshwater, ice and suspended matter from the Siberian plateaus to the Fram Strait, affecting Arctic biogeochemistry and ecosystems. This flow, far from constant, varies with the seasons, currents and melting ice, redistributing not only nutrients but also microplastics and heavy metals.

While the study does not focus on individual compounds, it does shed light on the underlying transport mechanisms. This represents a key step towards anticipating how the movement of materials in the Arctic could change with global warming. And its consequences on the fragile polar ecosystems. M.B.

“The real wealth of Greenland is its silence and beauty”

At the harbour service station, he was wearing a sweatshirt with a Kallaallit Nunaat badge sewn onto his shoulder: “We are neither Americans nor Danes, but Greenlanders”. Image: Adrien Chevrier.

On April 10, the New York Times revealed that the Trump administration plans to offer a sum of money to every citizen of Greenland: $10,000 per capita per year, instead of the $600 million in Danish subsidies. This plan is part of Washington’s campaign to assert its influence in the Arctic, a region coveted for its deposits of copper, gold, uranium… and oil, but also for its geostrategic position.

We met Heidi Møller in Ilulissat last week. She came first in the municipal elections at the beginning of April, but was not elected mayor: a coalition hostile to her party, Demokraatit, has formed to block her access.

In her view, to become independent, Greenland would first have to resolve its social problems, involve people in public debate and build a generation of people capable of taking on new responsibilities. “It’s not about money,” she told polarjournal.net “If Trump ever comes to Ilulissat, I hope he will go for a walk alone in nature and see that Greenland’s real wealth is silence and beauty.” C.L