Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands
Palsa peatlands are a significant carbon pool in the global carbon cycle and are projected to change by global warming due to accelerated permafrost thaw. Our aim was to use stable carbon isotopes as indicators of palsa degradation. Depth profiles of stable carbon isotopes generally reflect organic...
Published in: | Biogeosciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publ.
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://edoc.unibas.ch/dok/A6288855 https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/ https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/1/bg-11-3369-2014.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3369-2014 |
id |
ftunivbasel:oai:edoc.unibas.ch:34366 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivbasel:oai:edoc.unibas.ch:34366 2023-05-15T17:44:47+02:00 Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands Krueger, J. P. Leifeld, J. Alewell, C. 2014 application/pdf http://edoc.unibas.ch/dok/A6288855 https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/ https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/1/bg-11-3369-2014.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3369-2014 eng eng Copernicus Publ. https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/1/bg-11-3369-2014.pdf Krueger, J. P. and Leifeld, J. and Alewell, C. (2014) Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands. Biogeosciences, Vol. 11. pp. 3369-3380. doi:10.5194/bg-11-3369-2014 cc_by info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftunivbasel https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3369-2014 2023-03-05T07:04:50Z Palsa peatlands are a significant carbon pool in the global carbon cycle and are projected to change by global warming due to accelerated permafrost thaw. Our aim was to use stable carbon isotopes as indicators of palsa degradation. Depth profiles of stable carbon isotopes generally reflect organic matter dynamics in soils with an increase of δ13C values during aerobic decomposition and stable or decreasing δ13C values with depth during anaerobic decomposition. Stable carbon isotope depth profiles of undisturbed and degraded sites of hummocks as well as hollows at three palsa peatlands in northern Sweden were used to investigate the degradation processes. The depth patterns of stable isotopes clearly differ between intact and degraded hummocks at all sites. Erosion and cryoturbation at the degraded sites significantly changes the stable carbon isotope depth profiles. At the intact hummocks the uplifting of peat material by permafrost is indicated by a turning in the δ13C depth trend, and this assessment is supported by a change in the C / N ratios. For hollows isotope patterns were less clear, but some hollows and degraded hollows in the palsa peatlands show differences in their stable carbon isotope depth profiles indicating enhanced degradation rates. We conclude that the degradation of palsa peatlands by accelerated permafrost thawing can be identified with stable carbon isotope depth profiles. At intact hummocks δ13C depth patterns display the uplifting of peat material by a change in peat decomposition processes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden palsa permafrost University of Basel: edoc Biogeosciences 11 12 3369 3380 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Basel: edoc |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbasel |
language |
English |
description |
Palsa peatlands are a significant carbon pool in the global carbon cycle and are projected to change by global warming due to accelerated permafrost thaw. Our aim was to use stable carbon isotopes as indicators of palsa degradation. Depth profiles of stable carbon isotopes generally reflect organic matter dynamics in soils with an increase of δ13C values during aerobic decomposition and stable or decreasing δ13C values with depth during anaerobic decomposition. Stable carbon isotope depth profiles of undisturbed and degraded sites of hummocks as well as hollows at three palsa peatlands in northern Sweden were used to investigate the degradation processes. The depth patterns of stable isotopes clearly differ between intact and degraded hummocks at all sites. Erosion and cryoturbation at the degraded sites significantly changes the stable carbon isotope depth profiles. At the intact hummocks the uplifting of peat material by permafrost is indicated by a turning in the δ13C depth trend, and this assessment is supported by a change in the C / N ratios. For hollows isotope patterns were less clear, but some hollows and degraded hollows in the palsa peatlands show differences in their stable carbon isotope depth profiles indicating enhanced degradation rates. We conclude that the degradation of palsa peatlands by accelerated permafrost thawing can be identified with stable carbon isotope depth profiles. At intact hummocks δ13C depth patterns display the uplifting of peat material by a change in peat decomposition processes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Krueger, J. P. Leifeld, J. Alewell, C. |
spellingShingle |
Krueger, J. P. Leifeld, J. Alewell, C. Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands |
author_facet |
Krueger, J. P. Leifeld, J. Alewell, C. |
author_sort |
Krueger, J. P. |
title |
Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands |
title_short |
Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands |
title_full |
Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands |
title_fullStr |
Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands |
title_sort |
degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands |
publisher |
Copernicus Publ. |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://edoc.unibas.ch/dok/A6288855 https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/ https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/1/bg-11-3369-2014.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3369-2014 |
genre |
Northern Sweden palsa permafrost |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden palsa permafrost |
op_relation |
https://edoc.unibas.ch/34366/1/bg-11-3369-2014.pdf Krueger, J. P. and Leifeld, J. and Alewell, C. (2014) Degradation changes stable carbon isotope depth profiles in palsa peatlands. Biogeosciences, Vol. 11. pp. 3369-3380. doi:10.5194/bg-11-3369-2014 |
op_rights |
cc_by info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3369-2014 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
3369 |
op_container_end_page |
3380 |
_version_ |
1766147078905397248 |