Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta
Lakes and ponds play a key role in the carbon cycle of permafrost ecosystems, where they are considered to be hotspots of carbon dioxide CO 2 and methane CH 4 emission. The strength of these emissions is, however, controlled by a variety of physical and biogeochemical processes whose responses to a...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6256622ef20d47b8b310f73903fcd61e 2023-05-15T15:17:40+02:00 Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta M. Langer S. Westermann K. Walter Anthony K. Wischnewski J. Boike 2015-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-977-2015 https://doaj.org/article/6256622ef20d47b8b310f73903fcd61e EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.biogeosciences.net/12/977/2015/bg-12-977-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-12-977-2015 https://doaj.org/article/6256622ef20d47b8b310f73903fcd61e Biogeosciences, Vol 12, Iss 4, Pp 977-990 (2015) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-977-2015 2022-12-30T20:47:01Z Lakes and ponds play a key role in the carbon cycle of permafrost ecosystems, where they are considered to be hotspots of carbon dioxide CO 2 and methane CH 4 emission. The strength of these emissions is, however, controlled by a variety of physical and biogeochemical processes whose responses to a warming climate are complex and only poorly understood. Small waterbodies have been attracting an increasing amount of attention since recent studies demonstrated that ponds can make a significant contribution to the CO 2 and CH 4 emissions of tundra ecosystems. Waterbodies also have a marked effect on the thermal state of the surrounding permafrost; during the freezing period they prolong the period of time during which thawed soil material is available for microbial decomposition. This study presents net CH 4 production rates during the freezing period from ponds within a typical lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia. Rate estimations were based on CH 4 concentrations measured in surface lake ice from a variety of waterbody types. Vertical profiles along ice blocks showed an exponential increase in CH 4 concentration with depth. These CH 4 profiles were reproduced by a 1-D mass balance model and the net CH 4 production rates were then inferred through inverse modeling. Results revealed marked differences in early winter net CH 4 production among various ponds. Ponds situated within intact polygonal ground structures yielded low net production rates, of the order of 10 -11 to 10 -10 mol m -2 s -1 (0.01 to 0.14 mg CH 4 m -2 day -1 ). In contrast, ponds exhibiting clear signs of erosion yielded net CH 4 production rates of the order of 10 -7 mol m -2 s -1 (140 mg CH 4 m -2 day -1 ). Our results therefore indicate that once a particular threshold in thermal erosion has been crossed, ponds can develop into major CH 4 sources. This implies that any future warming of the climate may result in nonlinear CH 4 emission behavior in tundra ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice lena river permafrost Tundra Siberia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Biogeosciences 12 4 977 990 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 M. Langer S. Westermann K. Walter Anthony K. Wischnewski J. Boike Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Lakes and ponds play a key role in the carbon cycle of permafrost ecosystems, where they are considered to be hotspots of carbon dioxide CO 2 and methane CH 4 emission. The strength of these emissions is, however, controlled by a variety of physical and biogeochemical processes whose responses to a warming climate are complex and only poorly understood. Small waterbodies have been attracting an increasing amount of attention since recent studies demonstrated that ponds can make a significant contribution to the CO 2 and CH 4 emissions of tundra ecosystems. Waterbodies also have a marked effect on the thermal state of the surrounding permafrost; during the freezing period they prolong the period of time during which thawed soil material is available for microbial decomposition. This study presents net CH 4 production rates during the freezing period from ponds within a typical lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia. Rate estimations were based on CH 4 concentrations measured in surface lake ice from a variety of waterbody types. Vertical profiles along ice blocks showed an exponential increase in CH 4 concentration with depth. These CH 4 profiles were reproduced by a 1-D mass balance model and the net CH 4 production rates were then inferred through inverse modeling. Results revealed marked differences in early winter net CH 4 production among various ponds. Ponds situated within intact polygonal ground structures yielded low net production rates, of the order of 10 -11 to 10 -10 mol m -2 s -1 (0.01 to 0.14 mg CH 4 m -2 day -1 ). In contrast, ponds exhibiting clear signs of erosion yielded net CH 4 production rates of the order of 10 -7 mol m -2 s -1 (140 mg CH 4 m -2 day -1 ). Our results therefore indicate that once a particular threshold in thermal erosion has been crossed, ponds can develop into major CH 4 sources. This implies that any future warming of the climate may result in nonlinear CH 4 emission behavior in tundra ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Langer S. Westermann K. Walter Anthony K. Wischnewski J. Boike |
author_facet |
M. Langer S. Westermann K. Walter Anthony K. Wischnewski J. Boike |
author_sort |
M. Langer |
title |
Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta |
title_short |
Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta |
title_full |
Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta |
title_fullStr |
Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta |
title_full_unstemmed |
Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta |
title_sort |
frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern siberia, lena river delta |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-977-2015 https://doaj.org/article/6256622ef20d47b8b310f73903fcd61e |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Ice lena river permafrost Tundra Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice lena river permafrost Tundra Siberia |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 12, Iss 4, Pp 977-990 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/12/977/2015/bg-12-977-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-12-977-2015 https://doaj.org/article/6256622ef20d47b8b310f73903fcd61e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-977-2015 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
977 |
op_container_end_page |
990 |
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1766347909321719808 |