Dissolved Organic Matter, Nutrients, and Bacterial Metabolism (Respiration and Growth) in Ponds on Degrading Ice-Wedge Polygonal Terrain, Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada (2017-2019).

Ponds were sampled every July on Bylot Island (Qarlikturvik Valley, 73°09’N, 79°58’W) from 2017 to 2019. In 2017 and 2018, ponds were sampled twice during the sampling campaign. Samples were collected approximately 20 centimeters below the surface or above the sediments. Ponds were characterized by their morphologies and the level of soil erosion due to permafrost degradation; the three categories are erosive ice-wedge trough (eIWT) ponds, stable ice-wedge trough (sIWT) ponds, and coalescent polygon (CP) ponds. The purpose of the data was to characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus species) supplies in ponds commonly encountered in degrading ice-wedge polygonal landscapes and to identify potential drivers of DOM decomposition and heterotrophic bacterial metabolism in these systems. DOM quality was assessed through absorbance (a320, SUVA254, and S285) and fluorescence metrics (PARAFAC EEMs, components C1-C8).