Organic matter characteristics using lipid biomarker analysis of a rapidly eroding permafrost cliff ...

• Main Authors: Haugk, Charlotte, Jongejans, Loeka Laura, Mangelsdorf, Kai, Fuchs, Matthias, Ogneva, Olga, Palmtag, Juri, Mollenhauer, Gesine, Mann, Paul James, Overduin, Pier Paul, Grosse, Guido, Sanders, Tina, Tuerena, Robyn E, Schirrmeister, Lutz, Wetterich, Sebastian, Kizyakov, Alexander, Strauss, Jens
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2021
• Subjects: Biomarker; Carbon; erosion; n-alkane; n-fatty acids; Siberia; Yedoma; Changing Arctic Carbon cycle in the cOastal Ocean Near-shore CACOON; Arctic; lena river; permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.935672; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.935672

Organic carbon (OC) stored in Arctic permafrost represents one of Earth's largest and most vulnerable terrestrial carbon pools. Amplified climate warming across the Arctic results in widespread permafrost thaw. Permafrost deposits exposed at river cliffs and coasts are particularly susceptible to thawing processes. Accelerating erosion of terrestrial permafrost along shorelines leads to increased transfer of organic matter (OM) to nearshore waters. However, the amount of terrestrial permafrost carbon and nitrogen as well as the OM quality in these deposits are still poorly quantified. Here, we characterise the sources and the quality of OM supplied to the Lena River at a rapidly eroding permafrost river shoreline cliff in the eastern part of the delta (Sobo-Sise Island). Our multi-proxy approach captures bulk elemental, molecular geochemical and carbon isotopic analyses of late Pleistocene Yedoma permafrost and Holocene cover deposits, discontinuously spanning the last ~52 ka. We show that the ancient ...