Peat carbon, δ14C, macrofossil, and humification data from a thawing permafrost peatland in western Canada

• Main Author: Heffernan, Liam
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Peat; Permafrost; Biogeochemistry; Carbon; Earth and Environmental Sciences; Canada; permafrost
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/sha256:f9552c94dd7690307b114e8f958d74b2c04756f7a5500481427785a7c0a60fc5

The data provided in one xlsx file has five tabs: read me, bulk density and LOI, carbon content, FTIR and C:N, radiocarbon, and plant macrofossils. The same data is available in separate csv files and all data files are included in one zip file, except for a read me file wihcih is in txt format.. \"Read me\" contains descriptions of all column headers and data. It provides units of measurement for each. \"Bulk density and LOI\" contains the bulk density and loss-on-ignition values of peat samples. Bulk density was used with measured carbon content to calculate carbon stocks. LOI was used to aid in identifying transitions between peatland developmental stages. Peat was first dried at 110°C to calculate bulk density and then combusted at 550°C to determine LOI. Both bulk density and LOi were determined according to Chambers et al (2011). \"Carbon content\" contains the measured carbon content of peat samples. Measurements were determined using a Eurovector EA 3000 Elemental Analyzer (HEKAtech, Wegberg, Germany) from a homogenized sample. A site average (45%) carbon content was used with bulk density measurements to calculate carbon stocks. \"FTIR and C:N\" contains Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and molar C:N ratios from peat samples. We analyzed samples for FTIR on an Agilent 660 FT-IR spectrometer (Agilent Technologies Inc., Santa Clara, CA, USA). Calculated molar C:N ratios, were determined using a Eurovector EA 3000 Elemental Analyzer (HEKAtech, Wegberg, Germany) from a homogenized sample. The mean carbon content of peat was 45 ± 3.6% (n = 45). \"Radiocarbon\" contains the lab ID, uncalibrated age, fraction modern, calibrated 1-sigma age, Bacon model age, material dated, and stratigraphic significance for peat samples across all eight cores. Peat samples were dated using 14C analysis with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) at the A. E. Lalonde AMS Laboratory, Ottawa. Bacon model age represents age-depth models that were estimated using the BAcon software (Blaauw and Christeny 2011) \"Plant macrofossils\" contains measurements from a number of depths across all cores. It contains estimates of % presence of Sphagnum, brown moss, sedge, ligneous matter, and ericaceous rootlets using five ranges (≤ 1%, 1 – 10%, > 10 – 50%, > 50 – 90%, and > 90%) of percentage of peat volume acquired from the mean of five different estimates per 1 cm section. Plant needles and leaves are reported as individuals per cm3. Along with bulk density, LOI,and radiocarbon dates, plant macrofossils were used to identify the main transitions between macrofossil assemblages, peatland stages, and permafrost history at the study site.