High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials
Recent findings show that the amount of organic carbon stored in high-latitude permafrost regions has been greatly underestimated. While concerns are rising that thawing permafrost and resultant CO 2 and methane emissions are a positive feedback mechanism at times of anthropogenic global warming, th...
Published in: | Climate of the Past |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2011
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-501-2011 https://doaj.org/article/dfdc3785a8c1462cb80a588082de9528 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dfdc3785a8c1462cb80a588082de9528 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dfdc3785a8c1462cb80a588082de9528 2023-05-15T17:55:30+02:00 High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials R. Zech Y. Huang M. Zech R. Tarozo W. Zech 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-501-2011 https://doaj.org/article/dfdc3785a8c1462cb80a588082de9528 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.clim-past.net/7/501/2011/cp-7-501-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-501-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/dfdc3785a8c1462cb80a588082de9528 Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 2, Pp 501-509 (2011) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-501-2011 2022-12-31T14:49:58Z Recent findings show that the amount of organic carbon stored in high-latitude permafrost regions has been greatly underestimated. While concerns are rising that thawing permafrost and resultant CO 2 and methane emissions are a positive feedback mechanism at times of anthropogenic global warming, the potential role of permafrost carbon dynamics on glacial-interglacial timescales has received little attention. Here we present new results from a well-studied permafrost loess-paleosol sequence in north-east Siberia that almost spans two glacial cycles (~220 ka). We analysed the deuterium/hydrogen isotopic ratios (δD) of alkanes, which serve as proxy for paleo-temperature. Thus circumventing difficulties to obtain exact age control for such sequences, the results corroborate our previous notion that more soil organic carbon was sequestered during glacials than during interglacials. This fact highlights the role of permafrost in favouring preservation of soil organic matter. Reduced biomass production during glacials may have been of second-order importance on these timescales. Although future studies are needed to evaluate existing large estimates of carbon dioxide releases from thawing permafrost during the last termination (>1000 Pg C), we suggest that permafrost carbon dynamics contributed to the observed glacial-interglacial variation in atmospheric CO 2 and need to be included in carbon cycle and climate models. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Siberia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Climate of the Past 7 2 501 509 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 R. Zech Y. Huang M. Zech R. Tarozo W. Zech High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Recent findings show that the amount of organic carbon stored in high-latitude permafrost regions has been greatly underestimated. While concerns are rising that thawing permafrost and resultant CO 2 and methane emissions are a positive feedback mechanism at times of anthropogenic global warming, the potential role of permafrost carbon dynamics on glacial-interglacial timescales has received little attention. Here we present new results from a well-studied permafrost loess-paleosol sequence in north-east Siberia that almost spans two glacial cycles (~220 ka). We analysed the deuterium/hydrogen isotopic ratios (δD) of alkanes, which serve as proxy for paleo-temperature. Thus circumventing difficulties to obtain exact age control for such sequences, the results corroborate our previous notion that more soil organic carbon was sequestered during glacials than during interglacials. This fact highlights the role of permafrost in favouring preservation of soil organic matter. Reduced biomass production during glacials may have been of second-order importance on these timescales. Although future studies are needed to evaluate existing large estimates of carbon dioxide releases from thawing permafrost during the last termination (>1000 Pg C), we suggest that permafrost carbon dynamics contributed to the observed glacial-interglacial variation in atmospheric CO 2 and need to be included in carbon cycle and climate models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
R. Zech Y. Huang M. Zech R. Tarozo W. Zech |
author_facet |
R. Zech Y. Huang M. Zech R. Tarozo W. Zech |
author_sort |
R. Zech |
title |
High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials |
title_short |
High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials |
title_full |
High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials |
title_fullStr |
High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials |
title_full_unstemmed |
High carbon sequestration in Siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials |
title_sort |
high carbon sequestration in siberian permafrost loess-paleosols during glacials |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-501-2011 https://doaj.org/article/dfdc3785a8c1462cb80a588082de9528 |
genre |
permafrost Siberia |
genre_facet |
permafrost Siberia |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 2, Pp 501-509 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.clim-past.net/7/501/2011/cp-7-501-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-501-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/dfdc3785a8c1462cb80a588082de9528 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-501-2011 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
501 |
op_container_end_page |
509 |
_version_ |
1766163446536077312 |