Storage, Landscape Distribution, and Burial History of Soil Organic Matter in Contrasting Areas of Continuous Permafrost

• This study describes and compares soil organic matter (SOM) quantity and characteristics in two areas of continuous permafrost, a mountainous region in NE Greenland (Zackenberg study site) and a lowland region in NE Siberia (Cherskiy and Shalaurovo study sites). Our assessments are based on stratified-random landscape-level inventories of soil profiles down to 1 m depth, with physico-chemical, elemental, and radiocarbon-dating analyses. The estimated mean soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in the upper meter of soils in the NE Greenland site is 8.3 ± 1.8 kg C m-2 compared to 20.3 ± 2.2 kg C m-2 and 30.0 ± 2.0 kg C m-2 in the NE Siberian sites (95% confidence intervals). The lower SOC storage in the High Arctic site in NE Greenland can be largely explained by the fact that 59% of the study area is located at higher elevation with mostly barren ground and thus very low SOC contents. In addition, SOC-rich fens and bogs occupy a much smaller proportion of the landscape in NE Greenland (∼3%) than in NE Siberia (∼20%). The contribution of deeper buried C-enriched material in the mineral soil horizons to the total SOC storage is lower in the NE Greenland site (∼13%) compared to the NE Siberian sites (∼24%–30%). Buried SOM seems generally more decomposed in NE Greenland than in NE Siberia, which we relate to different burial mechanisms prevailing in these regions.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Naturgeografi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Physical Geography (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

soil organic carbon

degree of decomposition in soil organic matter

radiocarbon dating

C/N ratios

continuous permafrost

slope processes

cryoturbation

Physical Geography

naturgeografi

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