Data associated with Significant floodplain soil organic carbon along a large high latitude river and its tributaries

• Main Authors: Lininger, K. B., Wohl, E., Rose, J. R., Leisz, S. J.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Colorado State University. Libraries 2018
• Subjects: soil organic carbon; Yukon River; Alaska; floodplain; fluvial geomorphology; permafrost regions; Yukon; permafrost; Yukon river
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10217/187212; https://doi.org/10.25675/10217/187212

The dataset describes floodplain soil samples taken from the Yukon Flats region in interior Alaska, which were analyzed for organic carbon stocks. These data were collected in the Yukon Flats Region during Summer 2014 and Summer 2015, and lab work was completed from 2014-2017. High-latitude permafrost regions store large amounts of organic carbon (OC) in soils, and these stocks are vulnerable to climate warming. Estimates of subsurface carbon stocks do not take into account floodplains as unique landscape units that mediate and influence the delivery of materials into river networks. We present estimated floodplain soil OC stocks within the active layer (seasonally thawed layer) and within the top 1 m of the subsurface from a large field dataset in the Yukon Flats region of interior Alaska. We compare our estimated stocks to a previously published dataset, and find that the OC stock estimate using our field data is approximately 80% higher than the published dataset. We constrain the residence time of floodplain sediment and OC using radiocarbon dating. Our results indicate the importance of floodplains as areas of underestimated carbon storage, particularly because climate change may modify geomorphic processes in permafrost regions. National Science Foundation (NSF) DGE-1321845; National Geographic Society 9449-14; Geological Society of America (GSA); American Geophysical Union Hydrology Section; Colorado State University Warner College of Natural Resources and Department of Geosciences; US Fish and Wildlife Service Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge and Alaska Division of Refuges; P.E.O. International.