Biogeochemistry of “pristine” freshwater stream and lake systems in the western Canadian Arctic

Climate change poses a substantial threat to the stability of the Arctic terrestrial carbon (C) pool as warmer air temperatures thaw permafrost and deepen the seasonally-thawed active layer of soils and sediments. Enhanced water flow through this layer may accelerate the transport of C and major cat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biogeochemistry
Main Authors: Dean, J.F., Billett, M.F., Baxter, R., Dinsmore, K.J., Lessels, J.S., Street, L.E., Subke, J-A., Tetzlaff, D., Washbourne, I., Wookey, P.A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/2f2dc588-3deb-406a-adb5-fd358e6fdc6a
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0252-2
https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/2f2dc588-3deb-406a-adb5-fd358e6fdc6a
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Summary:Climate change poses a substantial threat to the stability of the Arctic terrestrial carbon (C) pool as warmer air temperatures thaw permafrost and deepen the seasonally-thawed active layer of soils and sediments. Enhanced water flow through this layer may accelerate the transport of C and major cations and anions to streams and lakes. These act as important conduits and reactors for dissolved C within the terrestrial C cycle. It is important for studies to consider these processes in small headwater catchments, which have been identified as hotspots of rapid mineralisation of C sourced from ancient permafrost thaw. In order to better understand the role of inland waters in terrestrial C cycling we characterised the biogeochemistry of the freshwater systems in a c. 14 km