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Abstract High latitude regions across the globe are undergoing severe modifications due to changing climate. A high latitude region of concern is the Gulf of Alaska (GoA), where these changes in hydroclimate undoubtedly affect the hydrogeochemistry of freshwater discharging to the nearshore ecosystems of the region. To fill the knowledge gap of our understanding of freshwater stream geochemistry with the GoA, we compile stream water chemistry data from 162 stream sites across the region. With an inverse model, we estimate fractional contributions to solute fluxes from weathering of silicate, carbonate, and sulfide minerals, and precipitation. We assess weathering rates across the region and compare them against global river yields. The median fractional contribution of carbonate weathering to total weathering products is 78% across all stream sites; however, there are several streams where silicate weathering is a dominant source of solutes. Weathering by sulfuric acid is elevated in glacierized watersheds. Finally, cation weathering rates are lower in GoA streams compared to the world's largest rivers; however, weathering rates are similar when compared to a global dataset of glacier fed streams. We suggest that hydrologic changes driven by glacier ice loss and increased precipitation will alter river water quality and chemical weathering regimes such that silicate weathering may become a more important source of solutes and sulfide oxidation may decrease. This contribution provides a platform to build from for future investigations into changes to stream water chemistry in the region and other high latitude watersheds. 

Abstract Rock weathering impacts atmospheric CO₂levels with silicate rock dissolution removing CO_2,and carbonate dissolution, pyrite oxidation, and organic rock carbon oxidation producing CO₂. Glacierization impacts the hydrology and geomorphology of catchments and glacier retreat due to warming can increase runoff and initiate landscape succession. To investigate the impact of these changes on catchment scale weathering CO₂balances, we report monthly samples of solute chemistry and continuous discharge records for a sequence of glacierized watersheds draining into Kachemak Bay, Alaska. We partition solute and acid sources and estimate inorganic weathering CO₂balances using an inverse geochemical mixing model. Furthermore, we investigated how solutes vary with discharge conditions utilizing a concentration‐runoff framework. We develop an analogous fraction‐runoff framework which allows us to investigate changes in weathering contributions at different flows. Fraction‐runoff relationships suggest kinetic limitations on all reactions in glacierized catchments, and only silicate weathering in less glacierized catchments. Using forest cover as a proxy for landscape age and stability, multiple linear regression shows that faster reactions (pyrite oxidation) contribute less to the solute load with increasing forest cover, whereas silicate weathering (slow reaction kinetics) contributes more. Overall, in glacierized catchments, we find elevated weathering fluxes at high runoff despite significant dilution effects. This makes flux estimates that account for dilution more important in glacierized catchments. Our findings quantify how glaciers modify the inorganic weathering CO₂balance of catchments through hydrologic and geomorphic forcings, and support the previous hypothesis that deglaciation will be accompanied by a shift in inorganic weathering CO₂balances. 

Abstract During the mid‐Holocene (MH: ∼6,000 years Before Present) and Last Interglacial LIG (LIG: ∼129,000–116,000 years Before Present) differences in the seasonal and latitudinal distribution of insolation drove Northern Hemisphere high‐latitude warming comparable to that projected for the end of the 21st century in low emissions scenarios. Paleoclimate proxy records point to distinct but regionally variable hydroclimatic changes during these past warm intervals. However, model simulations have generally disagreed on North American regional moisture patterns during the MH and LIG. To investigate how closely the latest generation of models associated with the Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP4) reproduces proxy‐inferred moisture patterns during recent warm periods, we compare hydroclimate output from 17 PMIP4 models with newly updated compilations of moisture‐sensitive North American proxy records during the MH and LIG. Agreement is lower for the MH, with models producing wet anomalies across the western United States (US) where most proxies indicate increased aridity relative to the preindustrial period. The models that agree most closely with the LIG proxy compilation display relative wetness in the eastern US and Alaska, and dryness in the northwest and central US. An assessment of atmospheric dynamics using an ensemble of the three LIG simulations that best agree with the proxies suggests that weaker winter North Pacific pressure gradients and steeper summer North Pacific and Atlantic gradients drive LIG precipitation patterns. Our updated compilations and proxy‐model comparisons offer a tool for benchmarking climate models and their performance in simulating climate states that are warmer than present. 

Abstract Glacierized coastal catchments of the Gulf of Alaska (GoA) are undergoing rapid hydrologic fluctuations in response to climate change. These catchments deliver dissolved and suspended inorganic and organic matter to nearshore marine environments, however, these glacierized coastal catchments are relatively understudied and little is known about total solute and particulate fluxes to the ocean. We present hydrologic, physical, and geochemical data collected during April–October 2019–2021 from 10 streams along gradients of glacial fed to non‐glacial (i.e., precipitation) fed, in one Southcentral and one Southeast Alaska region. Hydrologic data reveal that glaciers drive the seasonal runoff patterns. The ẟ¹⁸O signature and specific conductance show distinctive seasonal variations in stream water sources between the study regions apparently due to the large amounts of rain in Southeast Alaska. Total dissolved solids concentrations and yields were elevated in the Southcentral region, due to lithologic influence on dissolved loads, however, the hydroclimate is the primary driver of the timing of dissolved and suspended yields. We show the yields of dissolved organic carbon is higher and that the δ¹³C_POCis enriched in the Southeast streams illustrating contrasts in organic carbon export across the GoA. Finally, we illustrate how future yields of solutes and sediments to the GoA may change as watersheds evolve from glacial influenced to precipitation dominated. This integrated analysis provides insights into how watershed characteristics beyond glacier coverage control properties of freshwater inputs to the GoA and the importance of expanding study regions to multiple hydroclimate regimes.