soil sampling from glacier-retreat regions in Svalbard in 2012

The research area involves the glacier-retreat regions in Vestre Lovenbreen, Midtre Lovenbreen and Austre Lovenbreen, which are located in Kongsfijorden in Svalvard, Norway. We collected our soil samples along the transect in each glacier. The analysis of soil properties and microorganism community structure are underway. 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.