Journal
PERMAFROST AND PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES
Volume 25, Issue 3, Pages 172-183Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ppp.1815
Keywords
Ice Complex Deposits; thermal degradation; isotopic-molecular markers
Categories
Funding
- Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- Swedish Research Council
- US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Russian Foundation of Basic Research
- Nordic Council of Minister (Arctic Co-Op)
- Nordic Council of Minister (TRI-DEFROST programmes)
- Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
- Swedish Polar Research Secretariat
- Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences
- EU Marie Curie grant
- Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) (Rubicon)
- Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) (Veni)
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Arctic amplification of climate warming is intensifying the thaw and coastal erosion of the widespread and carbon-rich Siberian Ice Complex Deposits (ICD). Despite the potential for altering long-term carbon dynamics in the Arctic, the susceptibility of organic carbon (OC) to degradation as the ICD thaw is poorly characterised. This study identifies signs of OC degradation in three Siberian ICD regimes of coastal erosion through elemental, isotopic and molecular analyses. The degree of erosion appears to determine the extent of degradation. The moisture-limited and beach-protected ICD bluff near Buor-Khaya Cape, characterised by thermokarst mounds (baydzherakhs), represents a dormant regime with limited ongoing degradation. Conversely, the more exposed ICD scarps on eroding riverbanks (Olenek Channel, Lena Delta) and coastal slopes (Muostakh Island) showed more pronounced signs of ongoing OC decay. Different parameters suggest that degradation can partially explain the shift of the OC signature with C-14 age in the thawing ICD. Exposure time, degree of erosion, slope gradient and moisture conditions appear to be key factors determining the degradation propensity of OC in exposed ICD. These field results document the lability of OC in ICD upon thaw and illustrate the potential for transferring old OC into the rapidly cycling atmosphere-biosphere carbon pools. Copyright (C) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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