Discussing the Relationship Between Organic Carbon and Cryostructures in Permafrost in a High Arctic Setting, Adventdalen Svalbard

• Main Author: Malmström Holmgren, Ellen
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper 2024
• Subjects: Arctic; loess; Svalbard; permafrost; cryostratigraphy; climate change; Holocene climate; organic carbon content; LOI; Arctic dust; : Arktis; kryostratigrafi; klimatförändringen; Holocen; organiskt kol; Arktiskt damm; Physical Geography; Naturgeografi; Adventdalen; Damm; Kad’; Kol’; albedo; Arktis; Arktis*; Climate change
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-529767

The urgent ongoing contemporary climate change is drastically changing the Earth as we know it. In the Arctic, the climate is changing more drastically than the global average, and temperatures are rising significantly more. The phenomenon, known as Arctic amplification, is believed to happen by a combination of albedo reduction, cloud-feedback, and temperature inversion. Another important, but often overlooked, factor in Arctic climate change is dust. Dust does not only cause albedo reduction but has also been found to host syngenetic permafrost in Adventdalen, Svalbard. As permafrost is both a sensitive and important carbon reserve, holding twice as much carbon as currently available in the atmosphere, it is of great importance to understand the carbon storage mechanism of it. This study shows not only a correlation between cryostructures and organic carbon content but presents aeolian sedimentation rate as a possible cause of it. The results show that for syngenetic permafrost in Adventdalen, a high sedimentation rate yields structureless permafrost with low organic content. Inversely, a low sedimentation rate yields well defined cryostructures with high organic content. This shows that aeolian dust activity and loess deposits are vital to understand, in order to properly assess the cryostratigraphy and carbon content. Den brådskande samtida klimatförändringen omarbetar dramatiskt vår värld. Arktis klimat förändras mer drastiskt än på resten av jorden och temperaturen stiger avsevärt snabbare. Fenomenet kallas förArktis förstärkning, eller Arctic Amplification, och antas ske på grund av synergier mellan minskning av albedo, molnfeedback och temperaturinversion. Damm är en annan viktig, men ofta underskattad faktor i klimatförändrarna i Arktis. Damm bidrar inte bara till en ökad reduktion av albedo utan dammavlagringar i Adventdalen Svalbard fungerar som en viktig grogrund för syngenetisk permafrost. Kolsänkan i permafrost är lika skör som den är viktig, då permafrost förvarar ...