Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
Abstract Northern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993/pdf |
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crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 2024-06-02T08:01:48+00:00 Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix Elder, Clayton D Kurek, Martin R Miller, Benjamin L Xu, Xiaomei Wickland, Kimberly P Czimczik, Claudia I Dornblaser, Mark M Striegl, Robert G Kyzivat, Ethan D Smith, Laurence C Spencer, Robert G M Miller, Charles E Butman, David E US Geological Survey NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993/pdf unknown IOP Publishing http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Environmental Research Letters volume 18, issue 12, page 124024 ISSN 1748-9326 journal-article 2023 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 2024-05-07T14:05:12Z Abstract Northern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural abundance of radiocarbon to identify and trace the predominant sources of methane, carbon dioxide, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon in nine lakes within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in interior Alaska, a discontinuous permafrost region with high landscape heterogeneity and susceptibility to climate, permafrost, and hydrological changes. We find that although Yukon Flats lakes primarily process young carbon (modern to 1290 ± 60 years before present), permafrost-derived carbon is present in some of the sampled lakes and contributes, at most, 30 ± 10% of the dissolved carbon in lake surface waters. Apportionment of young carbon and legacy carbon (carbon with radiocarbon age ⩾5000 years before present) is decoupled among the dissolved inorganic and organic carbon species, with methane showing a stronger legacy signature. Our observations suggest that permafrost-thaw-related transport of carbon through Yukon Flats lacustrine ecosystems and into the atmosphere is small, and likely regulated by surficial sediments, permafrost distribution, wildfire occurrence, or masked by contemporary carbon processes. The heterogeneity of lakes across our study area and northern landscapes more broadly cautions against using any one region (e.g. Yedoma permafrost lakes) to upscale their contribution across the pan-Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic permafrost Alaska Yukon IOP Publishing Arctic Yukon Environmental Research Letters 18 12 124024 |
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Abstract Northern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural abundance of radiocarbon to identify and trace the predominant sources of methane, carbon dioxide, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon in nine lakes within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in interior Alaska, a discontinuous permafrost region with high landscape heterogeneity and susceptibility to climate, permafrost, and hydrological changes. We find that although Yukon Flats lakes primarily process young carbon (modern to 1290 ± 60 years before present), permafrost-derived carbon is present in some of the sampled lakes and contributes, at most, 30 ± 10% of the dissolved carbon in lake surface waters. Apportionment of young carbon and legacy carbon (carbon with radiocarbon age ⩾5000 years before present) is decoupled among the dissolved inorganic and organic carbon species, with methane showing a stronger legacy signature. Our observations suggest that permafrost-thaw-related transport of carbon through Yukon Flats lacustrine ecosystems and into the atmosphere is small, and likely regulated by surficial sediments, permafrost distribution, wildfire occurrence, or masked by contemporary carbon processes. The heterogeneity of lakes across our study area and northern landscapes more broadly cautions against using any one region (e.g. Yedoma permafrost lakes) to upscale their contribution across the pan-Arctic. |
author2 |
US Geological Survey NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix Elder, Clayton D Kurek, Martin R Miller, Benjamin L Xu, Xiaomei Wickland, Kimberly P Czimczik, Claudia I Dornblaser, Mark M Striegl, Robert G Kyzivat, Ethan D Smith, Laurence C Spencer, Robert G M Miller, Charles E Butman, David E |
spellingShingle |
Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix Elder, Clayton D Kurek, Martin R Miller, Benjamin L Xu, Xiaomei Wickland, Kimberly P Czimczik, Claudia I Dornblaser, Mark M Striegl, Robert G Kyzivat, Ethan D Smith, Laurence C Spencer, Robert G M Miller, Charles E Butman, David E Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon |
author_facet |
Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix Elder, Clayton D Kurek, Martin R Miller, Benjamin L Xu, Xiaomei Wickland, Kimberly P Czimczik, Claudia I Dornblaser, Mark M Striegl, Robert G Kyzivat, Ethan D Smith, Laurence C Spencer, Robert G M Miller, Charles E Butman, David E |
author_sort |
Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix |
title |
Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon |
title_short |
Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon |
title_full |
Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon |
title_fullStr |
Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon |
title_full_unstemmed |
Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon |
title_sort |
arctic-boreal lakes of interior alaska dominated by contemporary carbon |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993/pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Yukon |
genre |
Arctic permafrost Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost Alaska Yukon |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters volume 18, issue 12, page 124024 ISSN 1748-9326 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
124024 |
_version_ |
1800746290066227200 |