The geochemical, analytical, computational and modelling skills acquired during the outgoing phase, coupled to management skill development, allowed the implementation of new knowledge in the incoming laboratory that will benefit to appropriately locally set-up similar tracer analysis and modelling methods. In addition, this project allowed to reinforce the collaboration between the two laboratories (LEGOS, Toulouse, France, and EOAS, Vancouver, Canada) and fed ideas to jointly continue the investigation of new resulting questions.
The management of the GCP-GEOTARCTIC project was a personal and professional challenge Dr Grenier took up, from which resulted multiple valuable consequences for her future career prospects. First, she learned how to organize and manage a multiple year project, scientifically, technically, and financially. In addition to the global geochemical database enrichment it provided, this project allowed Dr Grenier to assess the strengths and weaknesses of her geochemical and computational tools, and to highlight and mature remaining and rising questions she would like to focus on in priority in the future. Notably, her work demonstrated the presence of significant fluxes of particles, either biogenic or lithogenic, either lateral or vertical, impacting the continental margin areas of all the basins studied in this project, as well as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Temporal and spatial variability of these fluxes have been observed, and question our understanding of the implied processes. A part of the variability is likely related to climate change, and notably to the enhanced sea-ice retreat that increases the particle concentrations and fluxes, dynamically through enhanced continental weathering, biologically through enhanced productivity.
However, some of the observed variability might also be related to unknown behaviour or properties of the tracers used in the project, or to some natural process variability. Dr Grenier identified process studies that could be performed in natural laboratories to investigate the temporal and spatial variability of the Arctic. She would like to maintain or strengthen the collaborations set up through the GCP-GEOTARCTIC project, notably with the Canadian universities, to further investigate the natural and anthropic variability of the modern Canadian Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic areas. She is currently writing multi-year research proposals to submit to competitive examinations.
