Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats
Palsa peats are unique northern ecosystems formed under an arctic climate and characterized by a high biodiversity and sensitive ecology. The stability of the palsas are seriously threatened by climate warming which will change the permafrost dynamic and induce a degradation of the mires. We used st...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b6361bbd5d0b4e02abf8478bbee21b6f 2023-05-15T15:17:44+02:00 Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats C. Alewell R. Giesler J. Klaminder J. Leifeld M. Rollog 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-1769-2011 https://doaj.org/article/b6361bbd5d0b4e02abf8478bbee21b6f EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.biogeosciences.net/8/1769/2011/bg-8-1769-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-8-1769-2011 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/b6361bbd5d0b4e02abf8478bbee21b6f Biogeosciences, Vol 8, Iss 7, Pp 1769-1778 (2011) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-1769-2011 2022-12-31T04:32:25Z Palsa peats are unique northern ecosystems formed under an arctic climate and characterized by a high biodiversity and sensitive ecology. The stability of the palsas are seriously threatened by climate warming which will change the permafrost dynamic and induce a degradation of the mires. We used stable carbon isotope depth profiles in two palsa mires of Northern Sweden to track environmental change during the formation of the mires. Soils dominated by aerobic degradation can be expected to have a clear increase of carbon isotopes (δ 13 C) with depth, due to preferential release of 12 C during aerobic mineralization. In soils with suppressed degradation due to anoxic conditions, stable carbon isotope depth profiles are either more or less uniform indicating no or very low degradation or depth profiles turn to lighter values due to an enrichment of recalcitrant organic substances during anaerobic mineralisation which are depleted in 13 C. The isotope depth profile of the peat in the water saturated depressions (hollows) at the yet undisturbed mire Storflaket indicated very low to no degradation but increased rates of anaerobic degradation at the Stordalen site. The latter might be induced by degradation of the permafrost cores in the uplifted areas (hummocks) and subsequent breaking and submerging of the hummock peat into the hollows due to climate warming. Carbon isotope depth profiles of hummocks indicated a turn from aerobic mineralisation to anaerobic degradation at a peat depth between 4 and 25 cm. The age of these turning points was 14 C dated between 150 and 670 yr and could thus not be caused by anthropogenically induced climate change. We found the uplifting of the hummocks due to permafrost heave the most likely explanation for our findings. We thus concluded that differences in carbon isotope profiles of the hollows might point to the disturbance of the mires due to climate warming or due to differences in hydrology. The characteristic profiles of the hummocks are indicators for micro-geomorphic change ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Northern Sweden palsa palsas permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Stordalen ENVELOPE(7.337,7.337,62.510,62.510) Biogeosciences 8 7 1769 1778 |
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 C. Alewell R. Giesler J. Klaminder J. Leifeld M. Rollog Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Palsa peats are unique northern ecosystems formed under an arctic climate and characterized by a high biodiversity and sensitive ecology. The stability of the palsas are seriously threatened by climate warming which will change the permafrost dynamic and induce a degradation of the mires. We used stable carbon isotope depth profiles in two palsa mires of Northern Sweden to track environmental change during the formation of the mires. Soils dominated by aerobic degradation can be expected to have a clear increase of carbon isotopes (δ 13 C) with depth, due to preferential release of 12 C during aerobic mineralization. In soils with suppressed degradation due to anoxic conditions, stable carbon isotope depth profiles are either more or less uniform indicating no or very low degradation or depth profiles turn to lighter values due to an enrichment of recalcitrant organic substances during anaerobic mineralisation which are depleted in 13 C. The isotope depth profile of the peat in the water saturated depressions (hollows) at the yet undisturbed mire Storflaket indicated very low to no degradation but increased rates of anaerobic degradation at the Stordalen site. The latter might be induced by degradation of the permafrost cores in the uplifted areas (hummocks) and subsequent breaking and submerging of the hummock peat into the hollows due to climate warming. Carbon isotope depth profiles of hummocks indicated a turn from aerobic mineralisation to anaerobic degradation at a peat depth between 4 and 25 cm. The age of these turning points was 14 C dated between 150 and 670 yr and could thus not be caused by anthropogenically induced climate change. We found the uplifting of the hummocks due to permafrost heave the most likely explanation for our findings. We thus concluded that differences in carbon isotope profiles of the hollows might point to the disturbance of the mires due to climate warming or due to differences in hydrology. The characteristic profiles of the hummocks are indicators for micro-geomorphic change ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Alewell R. Giesler J. Klaminder J. Leifeld M. Rollog |
author_facet |
C. Alewell R. Giesler J. Klaminder J. Leifeld M. Rollog |
author_sort |
C. Alewell |
title |
Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats |
title_short |
Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats |
title_full |
Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats |
title_fullStr |
Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats |
title_sort |
stable carbon isotopes as indicators for environmental change in palsa peats |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-1769-2011 https://doaj.org/article/b6361bbd5d0b4e02abf8478bbee21b6f |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(7.337,7.337,62.510,62.510) |
geographic |
Arctic Stordalen |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Stordalen |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Northern Sweden palsa palsas permafrost |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Northern Sweden palsa palsas permafrost |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 8, Iss 7, Pp 1769-1778 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/8/1769/2011/bg-8-1769-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-8-1769-2011 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/b6361bbd5d0b4e02abf8478bbee21b6f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-1769-2011 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1769 |
op_container_end_page |
1778 |
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1766347976320483328 |