soil sampling from glacier-retreat regions in Svalvard in 2011

The research area involves the glacier-retreat region in Vestre Lovenbreen and Midtre Lovenbreen which are located in Kongsfijorden in Svalvard, Norway. We collected our soil samples along a transect in each glacier. Additionally, we investigated near Climate Change Tower(CCT) established by the Italian research team and collected some soil samples. We are analyzing soil properties and microorganism community structure.
Due to the climate change, glaciers have been retreated, and soil underneath glacier is getting exposed greatly. These changes affect the ecosystems of these region. Although many studies have been done in the field of vegetation succession along the glacier chronosequence, little is known about microbial community structure and characteristics of soil carbon in glacier forelands. This research mainly focused on how glacier retreat influences the community structure of microorganism and soil organic carbon.