Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia
The future trajectory of greenhouse gas concentrations depends on interactions between climate and the biogeosphere. Thawing of Arctic permafrost could release significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere in this century. Ancient Ice Complex deposits outcropping along the ĝ̂1/47,000- kilometre-...
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2012
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Online Access: | https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/2813d4c7-da95-4977-a8ce-07b86f6466b8 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11392 https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/2813d4c7-da95-4977-a8ce-07b86f6466b8 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865757234&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84865757234&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftvuamstcris:oai:research.vu.nl:publications/2813d4c7-da95-4977-a8ce-07b86f6466b8 2024-10-13T14:03:50+00:00 Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia Vonk, J. E. Sanchez-Garca, L. Van Dongen, B. E. Alling, Vanja Kosmach, D. Charkin, A. N. Semiletov, I. P. Dudarev, O. V. Shakhova, Natalia Roos, P. Eglinton, Timothy I. Andersson, A. Gustafsson, Anders 2012-09-06 https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/2813d4c7-da95-4977-a8ce-07b86f6466b8 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11392 https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/2813d4c7-da95-4977-a8ce-07b86f6466b8 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865757234&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84865757234&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Vonk , J E , Sanchez-Garca , L , Van Dongen , B E , Alling , V , Kosmach , D , Charkin , A N , Semiletov , I P , Dudarev , O V , Shakhova , N , Roos , P , Eglinton , T I , Andersson , A & Gustafsson , A 2012 , ' Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia ' , Nature , vol. 489 , no. 7414 , pp. 137-140 . https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11392 /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water article 2012 ftvuamstcris https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11392 2024-10-03T00:23:17Z The future trajectory of greenhouse gas concentrations depends on interactions between climate and the biogeosphere. Thawing of Arctic permafrost could release significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere in this century. Ancient Ice Complex deposits outcropping along the ĝ̂1/47,000- kilometre-long coastline of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS), and associated shallow subsea permafrost, are two large pools of permafrost carbon, yet their vulnerabilities towards thawing and decomposition are largely unknown. Recent Arctic warming is stronger than has been predicted by several degrees, and is particularly pronounced over the coastal ESAS region. There is thus a pressing need to improve our understanding of the links between permafrost carbon and climate in this relatively inaccessible region. Here we show that extensive release of carbon from these Ice Complex deposits dominates (57ĝ€‰ ±ĝ€‰2 per cent) the sedimentary carbon budget of the ESAS, the worldĝ€™s largest continental shelf, overwhelming the marine and topsoil terrestrial components. Inverse modelling of the dual-carbon isotope composition of organic carbon accumulating in ESAS surface sediments, using Monte Carlo simulations to account for uncertainties, suggests that 44ĝ€‰ ±ĝ€ ‰10 teragrams of old carbon is activated annually from Ice Complex permafrost, an order of magnitude more than has been suggested by previous studies. We estimate that about two-thirds (66ĝ€‰ ±ĝ€‰16 per cent) of this old carbon escapes to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, with the remainder being re-buried in shelf sediments. Thermal collapse and erosion of these carbon-rich Pleistocene coastline and seafloor deposits may accelerate with Arctic amplification of climate warming. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Siberia Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal Arctic Nature 489 7414 137 140 |
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal |
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ftvuamstcris |
language |
English |
topic |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
spellingShingle |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water Vonk, J. E. Sanchez-Garca, L. Van Dongen, B. E. Alling, Vanja Kosmach, D. Charkin, A. N. Semiletov, I. P. Dudarev, O. V. Shakhova, Natalia Roos, P. Eglinton, Timothy I. Andersson, A. Gustafsson, Anders Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia |
topic_facet |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
description |
The future trajectory of greenhouse gas concentrations depends on interactions between climate and the biogeosphere. Thawing of Arctic permafrost could release significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere in this century. Ancient Ice Complex deposits outcropping along the ĝ̂1/47,000- kilometre-long coastline of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS), and associated shallow subsea permafrost, are two large pools of permafrost carbon, yet their vulnerabilities towards thawing and decomposition are largely unknown. Recent Arctic warming is stronger than has been predicted by several degrees, and is particularly pronounced over the coastal ESAS region. There is thus a pressing need to improve our understanding of the links between permafrost carbon and climate in this relatively inaccessible region. Here we show that extensive release of carbon from these Ice Complex deposits dominates (57ĝ€‰ ±ĝ€‰2 per cent) the sedimentary carbon budget of the ESAS, the worldĝ€™s largest continental shelf, overwhelming the marine and topsoil terrestrial components. Inverse modelling of the dual-carbon isotope composition of organic carbon accumulating in ESAS surface sediments, using Monte Carlo simulations to account for uncertainties, suggests that 44ĝ€‰ ±ĝ€ ‰10 teragrams of old carbon is activated annually from Ice Complex permafrost, an order of magnitude more than has been suggested by previous studies. We estimate that about two-thirds (66ĝ€‰ ±ĝ€‰16 per cent) of this old carbon escapes to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, with the remainder being re-buried in shelf sediments. Thermal collapse and erosion of these carbon-rich Pleistocene coastline and seafloor deposits may accelerate with Arctic amplification of climate warming. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vonk, J. E. Sanchez-Garca, L. Van Dongen, B. E. Alling, Vanja Kosmach, D. Charkin, A. N. Semiletov, I. P. Dudarev, O. V. Shakhova, Natalia Roos, P. Eglinton, Timothy I. Andersson, A. Gustafsson, Anders |
author_facet |
Vonk, J. E. Sanchez-Garca, L. Van Dongen, B. E. Alling, Vanja Kosmach, D. Charkin, A. N. Semiletov, I. P. Dudarev, O. V. Shakhova, Natalia Roos, P. Eglinton, Timothy I. Andersson, A. Gustafsson, Anders |
author_sort |
Vonk, J. E. |
title |
Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia |
title_short |
Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia |
title_full |
Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia |
title_fullStr |
Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia |
title_sort |
activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in arctic siberia |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/2813d4c7-da95-4977-a8ce-07b86f6466b8 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11392 https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/2813d4c7-da95-4977-a8ce-07b86f6466b8 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865757234&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84865757234&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Siberia |
op_source |
Vonk , J E , Sanchez-Garca , L , Van Dongen , B E , Alling , V , Kosmach , D , Charkin , A N , Semiletov , I P , Dudarev , O V , Shakhova , N , Roos , P , Eglinton , T I , Andersson , A & Gustafsson , A 2012 , ' Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia ' , Nature , vol. 489 , no. 7414 , pp. 137-140 . https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11392 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11392 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
489 |
container_issue |
7414 |
container_start_page |
137 |
op_container_end_page |
140 |
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