Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland
The Arctic is rapidly changing, disrupting biogeochemical cycles and the processing, delivery and sedimentation of carbon (C), in linked terrestrial–aquatic systems. In this investigation, we coupled a hydrogeomorphic assessment of catchment soils, sediments and plants with a recent lake sediment se...
Published in: | Biogeosciences |
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Copernicus Publications
2021
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Online Access: | http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/ http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/1/bg-18-2465-2021.pdf https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/2465/2021/ https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2465-2021 |
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ftyorkstjohnir:oai:ray.yorksj.ac.uk:4987 2023-05-15T14:26:58+02:00 Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland Stevenson, Mark A McGowan, Suzanne Pearson, Emma J Swann, George EA Leng, Melanie J Jones, Vivienne J Bailey, Joseph Huang, Xianyu Whiteford, Erika 2021-04-19 text http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/ http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/1/bg-18-2465-2021.pdf https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/2465/2021/ https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2465-2021 en eng Copernicus Publications http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/1/bg-18-2465-2021.pdf Stevenson, Mark A, McGowan, Suzanne, Pearson, Emma J, Swann, George EA, Leng, Melanie J, Jones, Vivienne J, Bailey, Joseph orcid:0000-0002-9526-7095 , Huang, Xianyu and Whiteford, Erika (2021) Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland. Biogeosciences, 18. pp. 2465-2485. doi:10.5194/bg-18-2465-2021 cc_by_4 CC-BY GB Physical geography Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftyorkstjohnir https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2465-2021 2022-06-13T18:44:23Z The Arctic is rapidly changing, disrupting biogeochemical cycles and the processing, delivery and sedimentation of carbon (C), in linked terrestrial–aquatic systems. In this investigation, we coupled a hydrogeomorphic assessment of catchment soils, sediments and plants with a recent lake sediment sequence to understand the source and quality of organic carbon present in three Arctic upland lake catchments on Disko Island, located just south of the low–high Arctic transition zone. This varied permafrost landscape has exposed soils with less vegetation cover at higher altitudes, and lakes received varying amounts of glacial meltwater inputs. We provide improved isotope and biomarker source identifications for palaeolimnological studies in high-latitude regions, where terrestrial vegetation is at or close to its northerly and altitudinal range limit. The poorly developed catchment soils lead to lake waters with low dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations (≤1.5 mg L−1). Sedimentary carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratios, the C isotope composition of organic matter (δ13Corg) and biomarker ratios (n-alkanes, n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids and sterols) showed that sedimentary organic matter (OM) in these lakes is mostly derived from aquatic sources (algae and macrophytes). We used a 210Pb-dated sediment core to determine how carbon cycling in a lake–catchment system (Disko 2) had changed over recent centuries. Recent warming since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA∼1860 CE), which accelerated after ca. 1950, led to melt of glacier ice and permafrost, releasing nutrients and DOC to the lake and stimulating pronounced aquatic algal production, as shown by a >10-fold increase in β-carotene, indicative of a major regime shift. We also demonstrate that recent increases in catchment terrestrial vegetation cover contributed to the autochthonous response. Our findings highlight that in Arctic lakes with sparsely developed catchment vegetation and soils, recent Anthropocene warming results in pronounced changes to in-lake C ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic glacier Greenland Ice permafrost RaY - Research at York St John University Arctic Greenland Biogeosciences 18 8 2465 2485 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
RaY - Research at York St John University |
op_collection_id |
ftyorkstjohnir |
language |
English |
topic |
GB Physical geography |
spellingShingle |
GB Physical geography Stevenson, Mark A McGowan, Suzanne Pearson, Emma J Swann, George EA Leng, Melanie J Jones, Vivienne J Bailey, Joseph Huang, Xianyu Whiteford, Erika Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland |
topic_facet |
GB Physical geography |
description |
The Arctic is rapidly changing, disrupting biogeochemical cycles and the processing, delivery and sedimentation of carbon (C), in linked terrestrial–aquatic systems. In this investigation, we coupled a hydrogeomorphic assessment of catchment soils, sediments and plants with a recent lake sediment sequence to understand the source and quality of organic carbon present in three Arctic upland lake catchments on Disko Island, located just south of the low–high Arctic transition zone. This varied permafrost landscape has exposed soils with less vegetation cover at higher altitudes, and lakes received varying amounts of glacial meltwater inputs. We provide improved isotope and biomarker source identifications for palaeolimnological studies in high-latitude regions, where terrestrial vegetation is at or close to its northerly and altitudinal range limit. The poorly developed catchment soils lead to lake waters with low dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations (≤1.5 mg L−1). Sedimentary carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratios, the C isotope composition of organic matter (δ13Corg) and biomarker ratios (n-alkanes, n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids and sterols) showed that sedimentary organic matter (OM) in these lakes is mostly derived from aquatic sources (algae and macrophytes). We used a 210Pb-dated sediment core to determine how carbon cycling in a lake–catchment system (Disko 2) had changed over recent centuries. Recent warming since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA∼1860 CE), which accelerated after ca. 1950, led to melt of glacier ice and permafrost, releasing nutrients and DOC to the lake and stimulating pronounced aquatic algal production, as shown by a >10-fold increase in β-carotene, indicative of a major regime shift. We also demonstrate that recent increases in catchment terrestrial vegetation cover contributed to the autochthonous response. Our findings highlight that in Arctic lakes with sparsely developed catchment vegetation and soils, recent Anthropocene warming results in pronounced changes to in-lake C ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stevenson, Mark A McGowan, Suzanne Pearson, Emma J Swann, George EA Leng, Melanie J Jones, Vivienne J Bailey, Joseph Huang, Xianyu Whiteford, Erika |
author_facet |
Stevenson, Mark A McGowan, Suzanne Pearson, Emma J Swann, George EA Leng, Melanie J Jones, Vivienne J Bailey, Joseph Huang, Xianyu Whiteford, Erika |
author_sort |
Stevenson, Mark A |
title |
Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland |
title_short |
Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland |
title_full |
Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland |
title_sort |
characterising organic carbon sources in anthropocene affected arctic upland lake catchments, disko island, west greenland |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/ http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/1/bg-18-2465-2021.pdf https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/2465/2021/ https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2465-2021 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Arctic glacier Greenland Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic glacier Greenland Ice permafrost |
op_relation |
http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4987/1/bg-18-2465-2021.pdf Stevenson, Mark A, McGowan, Suzanne, Pearson, Emma J, Swann, George EA, Leng, Melanie J, Jones, Vivienne J, Bailey, Joseph orcid:0000-0002-9526-7095 , Huang, Xianyu and Whiteford, Erika (2021) Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland. Biogeosciences, 18. pp. 2465-2485. doi:10.5194/bg-18-2465-2021 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2465-2021 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
2465 |
op_container_end_page |
2485 |
_version_ |
1766300510724292608 |