| Summary: | Inland waters (i.e. rivers, streams, lakes, ponds) emit carbon (C) into the atmosphere. The magnitude of global inland water C emission has been estimated to equal the global ocean C sink, thus making inland waters an important component of the global C cycle. Yet, the data used in estimating the magnitude of global inland water C emission lacks measurements of inland water C emissions from permafrost-affected regions in general and from Russia in particular, despite permafrost covering ~25% of the Northern Hemisphere and ~65% of Russia. This lack of data questions the accuracy of the current estimate of global inland water C emission and its predictive power in assessing changes in the global C cycle following permafrost thaw. In this thesis, we conducted detailed measurements of river and lake C emissions across ~1000 km permafrost gradient of Western Siberia (from permafrost-free to continuous permafrost zone) and assessed the magnitude of the total C emission from Western Siberian inland waters. We found that river and lake C emissions varied across the permafrost gradient with river C emissions being greatest in areas where permafrost is actively degrading, and lake C emissions being greatest in areas where permafrost is still intact. We also found that river and lake C emissions are likely driven by different factors with river C emissions being mainly controlled by temperature and hydrological conditions, whereas lake C emissions by sediment respiration and availability of recently thawed organic C. Further, we estimated the total C emission from Western Siberian inland waters to be greater than previously thought and exceeding the C export from this region to the Arctic Ocean. Such finding implies that a major part of the terrestrially-derived C is lost in Western Siberian inland waters, making this region a hotspot for inland water C emission following permafrost thaw. We also showed that apart from C emissions measurements across different inland water types and across the landscape, estimates of ...
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