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The productivity of marine ecosystems is an important factor conditioning element and organic matter cycling on Earth. It also influences the composition of the atmosphere and thus to shape our climate. The world’s oceans are a great source of O2 and sink for atmospheric CO2. They absorb about 22% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and therefore limit global warming. The Arctic Ocean, due to its relatively high productivity and low water temperatures enhances CO2 solubility, is responsible for as much as 5-14% of the global CO2 uptake by marine regions. This makes the Arctic marine ecosystems important components in the global carbon cycle. Recent findings show that Arctic fjords are especially effective in absorbing atmospheric CO2. The biogeochemistry of the fjord systems is, however, very complex and not yet fully understood. The great unknowns that remain include the effect of glacial retreat on the CO2 budget of coastal waters. This research project is truly interdisciplinary and wide-ranging, with marine sedimentology, hydrography, biogeochemistry, ecology, land hydrology with glaciology fields providing a much-needed holistic approach to the whole system. Simultaneous marine measurements are planned in closely located catchments having similar bedrock but different stages of the glacial recession (tidewater, land-based and lack of glacier). A comprehensive approach to the investigation of nutrient cycling, beginning from delivery from land to the marine environment, to the marine production and utilization, will be performed. Finally, because the goal of the project is aiming at studying the real, on-going process that is expected to affect the whole Arctic coastal ecosystems, the planned research is a kind of natural experiment of the crucial problem that the Earth system is now facing.