Soil and permafrost carbon and nitrogen content map of the Herschel Island based on ecological units

• Main Authors: Obu, Jaroslav, Lantuit, Hugues, Fritz, Michael, Heim, Birgit, Schirrmeister, Lutz, Wolter, Juliane, Myers-Smith, Isla
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Arctic; Coast Island; Herschel Island; Yukon; Herschel; Ice; permafrost; Thermokarst
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/34573/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/34573/1/Poster_ArcticNet_Obu.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.42787; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.42787.d001

Carbon and nitrogen are two of basic nutrients that control primary production and organism growth in Arctic Seas. Consequently their contents control further geochemical and biological processes including potential releases of carbon dioxide and methane. Nutrients are delivered to sea by coastal erosion and river discharge. Knowing the exact amounts of carbon and nitrogen that are available for transport is crucial for further estimates of nutrient cycling and gas fluxes. Study area is Herschel Island which is situated in the northern part of Yukon Coast. Island and its coasts are highly ground ice rich and thus subjected to rapid coastal erosion and thermokarst processes. Great amounts of sediments, including carbon and nitrogen, are transported to the near-shore zone each year by coastal erosion, retrogressive thaw slump activity and fluvial action. Final goal of research is to produce maps of soil organic carbon and nitrogen. Thirteen cores up to two meters depth were obtained from different ecological units on Herschel Island during the expedition in 2013. Samples are being analysed for CNS contents with combustion method. Carbon and nitrogen values will be averaged for the whole core column. Point data will be extrapolated to the whole island, based on the assumption that contents are homogenous within ecological units. Latter were produced from RapidEye multispectral imagery and training areas that were also collected during expedition in 2013.