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  • Review Article
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Glacier biogeochemical cycling and downstream impacts

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 7, pages 124–143 (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Far from being frozen and sterile environments, glaciers are biogeochemical reactors and regulators. In this Review, we discuss the hydrology and biogeochemistry of glacierized environments and their impact on downstream ecosystems. Supraglacial meltwaters export labile organic carbon associated with active supraglacial microbial communities, as well as carbon and nutrients delivered via atmospheric deposition. Meltwaters funnelled to the glacier bed and exiting at the glacier snout transport large quantities of rock flour as well as supraglacial and subglacial-derived organic carbon and nutrients to downstream ecosystems. Subglacial water flow paths influence rock–water contact times and vary greatly, affecting weathering reactions. For instance, the hydrology of mountain glaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet is typically dominated by seasonal melt with short (hours) to medium (weeks) water residence times, although extended biogeochemical isolation can exist in more isolated parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Conversely, the Antarctic Ice Sheet is dominated by basal ice melt and residence times that can exceed years and decades. As a result, the latter supports extended biogeochemical isolation and more advanced chemical weathering. Microbial processes and physical-chemical weathering can both sequester or emit greenhouse gases, but the net effect remains unknown. Meltwaters can potentially fuel biological processes in downstream ecosystems by priming glacier-fed streams, fjords, and oceans with rock flour and nutrients. The rapid reduction in glacier area projected for the next century mandates that future research provides a critical assessment of the effects of deglaciation on watershed biogeochemistry, ecology and global biogeochemical cycles.

Key points

  • Glaciers sustain globally high area-normalized rates of physical and chemical weathering.

  • Diverse microbial communities exist on, within and under glaciers. These microbes help catalyse geochemical reactions, drive greenhouse gas emissions and darken glacier surfaces.

  • Glacier hydrology connects the subcomponents of glacial systems and dictates the predominant biogeochemical conditions and reaction products.

  • Climate warming will lead to biogeochemical shifts in glacierized watersheds, with unresolved consequences for nutrient cycling and ecosystems.

  • Major questions remain in glacier biogeochemistry, including the response of glacier biogeochemical cycles to climate forcing and whether associated changes will drive positive or negative climate feedbacks.

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Fig. 1: Schematic of a glacierized and a deglaciated catchment.
Fig. 2: Conceptual figure of different glacial systems with poorly understood biogeochemical processes highlighted.
Fig. 3: Schematics of the unique components of glacial weathering.
Fig. 4: Example isotopic systems for investigating glacial biogeochemistry.
Fig. 5: Glacial meltwater river macronutrient and micronutrient concentrations in major glacierized regions.
Fig. 6: A schematic of the biogeochemical impacts of ice melt from marine and land-terminating glaciers on the coastal system.

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Acknowledgements

We dedicate this review to the memory of Maya Bhatia. Maya died unexpectedly during the writing of this review, and we are profoundly indebted to her input in conceiving the manuscript and to the scientific discipline at large. Maya made key contributions to our understanding of glacier biogeochemistry that are described in the article, particularly in framing the importance of glaciers and ice sheets in wider biogeochemical cycles, without which the field would be in a far more premature position. Maya was an outstanding person, scientist, colleague and friend, and is sorely missed. J.R.H. and E.D. were supported by a National Science Foundation Grant (project MEGA award no. 2232980). J.R.H. and J.L.W. were supported by iC3: Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate supported by the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence funding scheme, project number 332635. M.S. was supported by the Czech Ministry of Education as part of the ERC-CZ programme (project LL2004 ‘MARCH4G’). K.H. was supported by the BIOPOLE National Capability Multicentre Round 2 funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (grant no. NE/W004933/1) and SiCLING (grant no. NE/X014819/1). R.V. acknowledges support from NSF awards 2224681 and 2317097. J.A.B. was supported by NERC (NE/T010967/1), the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR23-CPJ1-0172-01), and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme (grant agreement no. 101115755, acronym SIESTA). E.H. was supported by the National Science Foundation under award #OIA-2344553 and by the State of Alaska. R.G.M.S. and A.D.H. were supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB-2506415 and OPP-AON 1914081) and associated INTERN award with OPP-AON 1914081, and are extremely grateful to the Winchester Foundation and the International Association of Geochemistry for research support.

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Author notes

  1. Deceased: Maya P. Bhatia.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Jon. R. Hawkings & Eva L. Doting

  2. iC3: Center for Ice, Climate, Cryosphere and Carbon, Department of Geosciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Jon. R. Hawkings & Jemma L. Wadham

  3. Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO, Marseille, France

    James A. Bradley

  4. School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    James A. Bradley

  5. Department of Arctic Ecology, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Tromsø, Norway

    Eva L. Doting

  6. National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering-College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (NIBGE-C, PIEAS), Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Noor Hassan

  7. Polar Oceans Team, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

    Katharine R. Hendry

  8. Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Amy D. Holt & Robert G. M. Spencer

  9. Program on the Environment and Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, AK, USA

    Amy D. Holt

  10. Department of Natural Sciences, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, AK, USA

    Eran Hood

  11. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia

    Marek Stibal

  12. Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej, Roskilde, Denmark

    Martyn Tranter

  13. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Hydrologic Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    Ryan A. Venturelli

  14. School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Jemma L. Wadham

  15. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Maya P. Bhatia

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Contributions

J.R.H., E.L.D., K.H., A.D.H., R.A.V. and R.G.M.S. researched data for the article, made a substantial contribution to discussion of content, wrote and reviewed/edited the manuscript before submission. M.B. and J.W. made a substantial contribution to discussion of content and wrote the manuscript. M.T., J.B., E.H. and M.S. made a substantial contribution to discussion of content, wrote and reviewed/edited the manuscript before submission. N.H. researched data for the article and reviewed/edited the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Jon. R. Hawkings.

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Hawkings, J.R., Bradley, J.A., Doting, E.L. et al. Glacier biogeochemical cycling and downstream impacts. Nat Rev Earth Environ 7, 124–143 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00751-1

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