Carbon isotopes and lipid biomarker investigation of sources, transport and degradation of terrestrial organic matter in the Buor-Khaya Bay, SE Laptev Sea ...

• Main Authors: Karlsson, Emma, Charkin, Alexander, Dudarev, Oleg V., Semiletov, Igor P., Vonk, Jorien, Sánchez-García, Laura, Andersson, August, Gustafsson, Örjan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2011
• Subjects: Arctic; laptev; Laptev Sea; lena river; permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000041949; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/41949

The world's largest continental shelf, the East Siberian Shelf Sea, receives substantial input of terrestrial organic carbon (terr-OC) from both large rivers and erosion of its coastline. Degradation of organic matter from thawing permafrost in the Arctic is likely to increase, potentially creating a positive feedback mechanism to climate warming. This study focuses on the Buor-Khaya Bay (SE Laptev Sea), an area with strong terr-OC input from both coastal erosion and the Lena river. To better understand the fate of this terr-OC, molecular (acyl lipid biomarkers) and isotopic tools (stable carbon and radiocarbon isotopes) have been applied to both particulate organic carbon (POC) in surface water and sedimentary organic carbon (SOC) collected from the underlying surface sediments. Clear gradients in both extent of degradation and differences in source contributions were observed both between surface water POC and surface sediment SOC as well as over the 100 s km investigation scale (about 20 stations). ... : Biogeosciences, 8 (2) ...