Articles | Volume 12, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2227-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2227-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
15 Apr 2015
Research article |
| 15 Apr 2015
Organic-matter quality of deep permafrost carbon – a study from Arctic Siberia
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Periglacial Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A 43, Potsdam, Germany
Potsdam University, Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24–25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
L. Schirrmeister
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Periglacial Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A 43, Potsdam, Germany
K. Mangelsdorf
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
L. Eichhorn
International Max Planck Research School for Global Biogeochemical Cycles (Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and Friedrich Schiller University), Burgweg 11, 07749 Jena, Germany
S. Wetterich
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Periglacial Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A 43, Potsdam, Germany
U. Herzschuh
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Periglacial Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A 43, Potsdam, Germany
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G. Hugelius, J. G. Bockheim, P. Camill, B. Elberling, G. Grosse, J. W. Harden, K. Johnson, T. Jorgenson, C. D. Koven, P. Kuhry, G. Michaelson, U. Mishra, J. Palmtag, C.-L. Ping, J. O'Donnell, L. Schirrmeister, E. A. G. Schuur, Y. Sheng, L. C. Smith, J. Strauss, and Z. Yu
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 5, 393–402, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-393-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-393-2013, 2013
Simeon Lisovski, Alexandra Runge, Iuliia Shevtsova, Nele Landgraf, Anne Morgenstern, Ronald Reagan Okoth, Matthias Fuchs, Nikolay Lashchinskiy, Carl Stadie, Alison Beamish, Ulrike Herzschuh, Guido Grosse, and Birgit Heim
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 1707–1730, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1707-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1707-2025, 2025
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The Lena Delta is the largest river delta in the Arctic and represents a biodiversity hotspot. Here, we describe multiple field datasets and a detailed habitat classification map for the Lena Delta. We present context and methods of these openly available datasets and show how they can improve our understanding of the rapidly changing Arctic tundra system.
Maren Jenrich, Juliane Wolter, Susanne Liebner, Christian Knoblauch, Guido Grosse, Fiona Giebeler, Dustin Whalen, and Jens Strauss
Biogeosciences, 22, 2069–2086, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2069-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2069-2025, 2025
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Frieda P. Giest, Maren Jenrich, Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, Kai Mangelsdorf, Torben Windirsch, and Jens Strauss
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Lutz Schirrmeister, Margret C. Fuchs, Thomas Opel, Andrei Andreev, Frank Kienast, Andrea Schneider, Larisa Nazarova, Larisa Frolova, Svetlana Kuzmina, Tatiana Kuznetsova, Vladimir Tumskoy, Heidrun Matthes, Gerit Lohmann, Guido Grosse, Viktor Kunitsky, Hanno Meyer, Heike H. Zimmermann, Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Boehmer, Stuart Umbo, Sevi Modestou, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, Anfisa Pismeniuk, Georg Schwamborn, Stephanie Kusch, and Sebastian Wetterich
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Amelie Stieg, Boris K. Biskaborn, Ulrike Herzschuh, Andreas Marent, Jens Strauss, Dorothee Wilhelms–Dick, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, and Hanno Meyer
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Laura Schild, Peter Ewald, Chenzhi Li, Raphaël Hébert, Thomas Laepple, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-486, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-486, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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Philip Meister, Anne Alexandre, Hannah Bailey, Philip Barker, Boris K. Biskaborn, Ellie Broadman, Rosine Cartier, Bernhard Chapligin, Martine Couapel, Jonathan R. Dean, Bernhard Diekmann, Poppy Harding, Andrew C. G. Henderson, Armand Hernandez, Ulrike Herzschuh, Svetlana S. Kostrova, Jack Lacey, Melanie J. Leng, Andreas Lücke, Anson W. Mackay, Eniko Katalin Magyari, Biljana Narancic, Cécile Porchier, Gunhild Rosqvist, Aldo Shemesh, Corinne Sonzogni, George E. A. Swann, Florence Sylvestre, and Hanno Meyer
Clim. Past, 20, 363–392, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-363-2024, 2024
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This paper presents the first comprehensive compilation of diatom oxygen isotope records in lake sediments (δ18OBSi), supported by lake basin parameters. We infer the spatial and temporal coverage of δ18OBSi records and discuss common hemispheric trends on centennial and millennial timescales. Key results are common patterns for hydrologically open lakes in Northern Hemisphere extratropical regions during the Holocene corresponding to known climatic epochs, i.e. the Holocene Thermal Maximum.
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Böhmer, Manuel Chevalier, Raphaël Hébert, Anne Dallmeyer, Chenzhi Li, Xianyong Cao, Odile Peyron, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schlütz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, and Zhuo Zheng
Clim. Past, 19, 1481–1506, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1481-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1481-2023, 2023
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A mismatch between model- and proxy-based Holocene climate change may partially originate from the poor spatial coverage of climate reconstructions. Here we investigate quantitative reconstructions of mean annual temperature and annual precipitation from 1908 pollen records in the Northern Hemisphere. Trends show strong latitudinal patterns and differ between (sub-)continents. Our work contributes to a better understanding of the global mean.
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Böhmer, Chenzhi Li, Manuel Chevalier, Raphaël Hébert, Anne Dallmeyer, Xianyong Cao, Nancy H. Bigelow, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Odile Peyron, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schlütz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, and Zhuo Zheng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2235–2258, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2235-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2235-2023, 2023
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Climate reconstruction from proxy data can help evaluate climate models. We present pollen-based reconstructions of mean July temperature, mean annual temperature, and annual precipitation from 2594 pollen records from the Northern Hemisphere, using three reconstruction methods (WA-PLS, WA-PLS_tailored, and MAT). Since no global or hemispheric synthesis of quantitative precipitation changes are available for the Holocene so far, this dataset will be of great value to the geoscientific community.
Manuel Chevalier, Anne Dallmeyer, Nils Weitzel, Chenzhi Li, Jean-Philippe Baudouin, Ulrike Herzschuh, Xianyong Cao, and Andreas Hense
Clim. Past, 19, 1043–1060, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1043-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1043-2023, 2023
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Data–data and data–model vegetation comparisons are commonly based on comparing single vegetation estimates. While this approach generates good results on average, reducing pollen assemblages to single single plant functional type (PFT) or biome estimates can oversimplify the vegetation signal. We propose using a multivariate metric, the Earth mover's distance (EMD), to include more details about the vegetation structure when performing such comparisons.
Boris K. Biskaborn, Amy Forster, Gregor Pfalz, Lyudmila A. Pestryakova, Kathleen Stoof-Leichsenring, Jens Strauss, Tim Kröger, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Biogeosciences, 20, 1691–1712, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1691-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1691-2023, 2023
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Lake sediment from the Russian Arctic was studied for microalgae and organic matter chemistry dated back to the last glacial 28 000 years. Species and chemistry responded to environmental changes such as the Younger Dryas cold event and the Holocene thermal maximum. Organic carbon accumulation correlated with rates of microalgae deposition only during warm episodes but not during the cold glacial.
Olga Ogneva, Gesine Mollenhauer, Bennet Juhls, Tina Sanders, Juri Palmtag, Matthias Fuchs, Hendrik Grotheer, Paul J. Mann, and Jens Strauss
Biogeosciences, 20, 1423–1441, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1423-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1423-2023, 2023
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Arctic warming accelerates permafrost thaw and release of terrestrial organic matter (OM) via rivers to the Arctic Ocean. We compared particulate organic carbon (POC), total suspended matter, and C isotopes (δ13C and Δ14C of POC) in the Lena delta and Lena River along a ~1600 km transect. We show that the Lena delta, as an interface between the Lena River and the Arctic Ocean, plays a crucial role in determining the qualitative and quantitative composition of OM discharged into the Arctic Ocean.
Peter Stimmler, Mathias Goeckede, Bo Elberling, Susan Natali, Peter Kuhry, Nia Perron, Fabrice Lacroix, Gustaf Hugelius, Oliver Sonnentag, Jens Strauss, Christina Minions, Michael Sommer, and Jörg Schaller
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1059–1075, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1059-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1059-2023, 2023
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Arctic soils store large amounts of carbon and nutrients. The availability of nutrients, such as silicon, calcium, iron, aluminum, phosphorus, and amorphous silica, is crucial to understand future carbon fluxes in the Arctic. Here, we provide, for the first time, a unique dataset of the availability of the abovementioned nutrients for the different soil layers, including the currently frozen permafrost layer. We relate these data to several geographical and geological parameters.
Furong Li, Marie-José Gaillard, Xianyong Cao, Ulrike Herzschuh, Shinya Sugita, Jian Ni, Yan Zhao, Chengbang An, Xiaozhong Huang, Yu Li, Hongyan Liu, Aizhi Sun, and Yifeng Yao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 95–112, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-95-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-95-2023, 2023
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The objective of this study is present the first gridded and temporally continuous quantitative plant-cover reconstruction for temperate and northern subtropical China over the last 12 millennia. The reconstructions are based on 94 pollen records and include estimates for 27 plant taxa, 10 plant functional types, and 3 land-cover types. The dataset is suitable for palaeoclimate modelling and the evaluation of simulated past vegetation cover and anthropogenic land-cover change from models.
Timon Miesner, Ulrike Herzschuh, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Mareike Wieczorek, Evgenii S. Zakharov, Alexei I. Kolmogorov, Paraskovya V. Davydova, and Stefan Kruse
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5695–5716, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5695-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5695-2022, 2022
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We present data which were collected on expeditions to the northeast of the Russian Federation. One table describes the 226 locations we visited during those expeditions, and the other describes 40 289 trees which we recorded at these locations. We found out that important information on the forest cannot be predicted precisely from satellites. Thus, for anyone interested in distant forests, it is important to go to there and take measurements or use data (as presented here).
Femke van Geffen, Birgit Heim, Frederic Brieger, Rongwei Geng, Iuliia A. Shevtsova, Luise Schulte, Simone M. Stuenzi, Nadine Bernhardt, Elena I. Troeva, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Evgenii S. Zakharov, Bringfried Pflug, Ulrike Herzschuh, and Stefan Kruse
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4967–4994, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4967-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4967-2022, 2022
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SiDroForest is an attempt to remedy data scarcity regarding vegetation data in the circumpolar region, whilst providing adjusted and labeled data for machine learning and upscaling practices. SiDroForest contains four datasets that include SfM point clouds, individually labeled trees, synthetic tree crowns and labeled Sentinel-2 patches that provide insights into the vegetation composition and forest structure of two important vegetation transition zones in Siberia, Russia.
Loeka L. Jongejans, Kai Mangelsdorf, Cornelia Karger, Thomas Opel, Sebastian Wetterich, Jérémy Courtin, Hanno Meyer, Alexander I. Kizyakov, Guido Grosse, Andrei G. Shepelev, Igor I. Syromyatnikov, Alexander N. Fedorov, and Jens Strauss
The Cryosphere, 16, 3601–3617, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3601-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3601-2022, 2022
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Large parts of Arctic Siberia are underlain by permafrost. Climate warming leads to permafrost thaw. At the Batagay megaslump, permafrost sediments up to ~ 650 kyr old are exposed. We took sediment samples and analysed the organic matter (e.g. plant remains). We found distinct differences in the biomarker distributions between the glacial and interglacial deposits with generally stronger microbial activity during interglacial periods. Further permafrost thaw enhances greenhouse gas emissions.
Ulrike Herzschuh, Chenzhi Li, Thomas Böhmer, Alexander K. Postl, Birgit Heim, Andrei A. Andreev, Xianyong Cao, Mareike Wieczorek, and Jian Ni
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3213–3227, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3213-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3213-2022, 2022
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Pollen preserved in environmental archives such as lake sediments and bogs are extensively used for reconstructions of past vegetation and climate. Here we present LegacyPollen 1.0, a dataset of 2831 fossil pollen records from all over the globe that were collected from publicly available databases. We harmonized the names of the pollen taxa so that all datasets can be jointly investigated. LegacyPollen 1.0 is available as an open-access dataset.
Ramesh Glückler, Rongwei Geng, Lennart Grimm, Izabella Baisheva, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Stefan Kruse, Andrei Andreev, Luidmila Pestryakova, and Elisabeth Dietze
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-395, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-395, 2022
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Despite rapidly intensifying wildfire seasons in Siberian boreal forests, little is known about long-term relationships between changes in vegetation and shifts in wildfire activity. Using lake sediment proxies, we reconstruct such environmental changes over the past 10,800 years in Central Yakutia. We find that a more open forest may facilitate increased amounts of vegetation burning. The present-day dense larch forest might yet be mediating the current climate-driven wildfire intensification.
Matthias Fuchs, Juri Palmtag, Bennet Juhls, Pier Paul Overduin, Guido Grosse, Ahmed Abdelwahab, Michael Bedington, Tina Sanders, Olga Ogneva, Irina V. Fedorova, Nikita S. Zimov, Paul J. Mann, and Jens Strauss
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 2279–2301, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2279-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2279-2022, 2022
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We created digital, high-resolution bathymetry data sets for the Lena Delta and Kolyma Gulf regions in northeastern Siberia. Based on nautical charts, we digitized depth points and isobath lines, which serve as an input for a 50 m bathymetry model. The benefit of this data set is the accurate mapping of near-shore areas as well as the offshore continuation of the main deep river channels. This will improve the estimation of river outflow and the nutrient flux output into the coastal zone.
Charlotte Haugk, Loeka L. Jongejans, Kai Mangelsdorf, Matthias Fuchs, Olga Ogneva, Juri Palmtag, Gesine Mollenhauer, Paul J. Mann, P. Paul Overduin, Guido Grosse, Tina Sanders, Robyn E. Tuerena, Lutz Schirrmeister, Sebastian Wetterich, Alexander Kizyakov, Cornelia Karger, and Jens Strauss
Biogeosciences, 19, 2079–2094, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2079-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2079-2022, 2022
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Buried animal and plant remains (carbon) from the last ice age were freeze-locked in permafrost. At an extremely fast eroding permafrost cliff in the Lena Delta (Siberia), we found this formerly frozen carbon well preserved. Our results show that ongoing degradation releases substantial amounts of this carbon, making it available for future carbon emissions. This mobilisation at the studied cliff and also similarly eroding sites bear the potential to affect rivers and oceans negatively.
Chenzhi Li, Alexander K. Postl, Thomas Böhmer, Xianyong Cao, Andrew M. Dolman, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1331–1343, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1331-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1331-2022, 2022
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Here we present a global chronology framework of 2831 palynological records, including globally harmonized chronologies covering up to 273 000 years. A comparison with the original chronologies reveals a major improvement according to our assessment. Our chronology framework and revised chronologies will interest a broad geoscientific community, as it provides the opportunity to make use in synthesis studies of, for example, pollen-based vegetation and climate change.
Stefan Kruse, Simone M. Stuenzi, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, Josias Gloy, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 2395–2422, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2395-2022, 2022
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We coupled established models for boreal forest (LAVESI) and permafrost dynamics (CryoGrid) in Siberia to investigate interactions of the diverse vegetation layer with permafrost soils. Our tests showed improved active layer depth estimations and newly included species growth according to their species-specific limits. We conclude that the new model system can be applied to simulate boreal forest dynamics and transitions under global warming and disturbances, expanding our knowledge.
Michael Fritz, Sebastian Wetterich, Joel McAlister, and Hanno Meyer
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 57–63, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-57-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-57-2022, 2022
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From 2015 to 2018 we collected rain and snow samples in Inuvik, Canada. We measured the stable water isotope composition of oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δ2H) with a mass spectrometer. This data will be of interest for other scientists who work in the Arctic. They will be able to compare our modern data with their own isotope data in old ice, for example in glaciers, and in permafrost. This will help to correctly interpret the climate signals of the environmental history of the Earth.
Anne Dallmeyer, Martin Claussen, Stephan J. Lorenz, Michael Sigl, Matthew Toohey, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Clim. Past, 17, 2481–2513, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2481-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2481-2021, 2021
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Using the comprehensive Earth system model, MPI-ESM1.2, we explore the global Holocene vegetation changes and interpret them in terms of the Holocene climate change. The model results reveal that most of the Holocene vegetation transitions seen outside the high northern latitudes can be attributed to modifications in the intensity of the global summer monsoons.
Torben Windirsch, Guido Grosse, Mathias Ulrich, Bruce C. Forbes, Mathias Göckede, Juliane Wolter, Marc Macias-Fauria, Johan Olofsson, Nikita Zimov, and Jens Strauss
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2021-227, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2021-227, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
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With global warming, permafrost thaw and associated carbon release are of increasing importance. We examined how large herbivorous animals affect Arctic landscapes and how they might contribute to reduction of these emissions. We show that over a short timespan of roughly 25 years, these animals have already changed the vegetation and landscape. On pastures in a permafrost area in Siberia we found smaller thaw depth and higher carbon content than in surrounding non-pasture areas.
Stuart A. Vyse, Ulrike Herzschuh, Gregor Pfalz, Lyudmila A. Pestryakova, Bernhard Diekmann, Norbert Nowaczyk, and Boris K. Biskaborn
Biogeosciences, 18, 4791–4816, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4791-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4791-2021, 2021
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Lakes act as important stores of organic carbon and inorganic sediment material. This study provides a first investigation into carbon and sediment accumulation and storage within an Arctic glacial lake from Far East Russia. It shows that major shifts are related to palaeoclimate variation that affects the development of the lake and its surrounding catchment. Spatial differences to other lake systems from other regions may reflect variability in processes controlled by latitude and altitude.
Ramesh Glückler, Ulrike Herzschuh, Stefan Kruse, Andrei Andreev, Stuart Andrew Vyse, Bettina Winkler, Boris K. Biskaborn, Luidmila Pestryakova, and Elisabeth Dietze
Biogeosciences, 18, 4185–4209, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4185-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4185-2021, 2021
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Data about past fire activity are very sparse in Siberia. This study presents a first high-resolution record of charcoal particles from lake sediments in boreal eastern Siberia. It indicates that current levels of charcoal accumulation are not unprecedented. While a recent increase in reconstructed fire frequency coincides with rising temperatures and increasing human activity, vegetation composition does not seem to be a major driver behind changes in the fire regime in the past two millennia.
Lydia Stolpmann, Caroline Coch, Anne Morgenstern, Julia Boike, Michael Fritz, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kathleen Stoof-Leichsenring, Yury Dvornikov, Birgit Heim, Josefine Lenz, Amy Larsen, Katey Walter Anthony, Benjamin Jones, Karen Frey, and Guido Grosse
Biogeosciences, 18, 3917–3936, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, 2021
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Our new database summarizes DOC concentrations of 2167 water samples from 1833 lakes in permafrost regions across the Arctic to provide insights into linkages between DOC and environment. We found increasing lake DOC concentration with decreasing permafrost extent and higher DOC concentrations in boreal permafrost sites compared to tundra sites. Our study shows that DOC concentration depends on the environmental properties of a lake, especially permafrost extent, ecoregion, and vegetation.
Iuliia Shevtsova, Ulrike Herzschuh, Birgit Heim, Luise Schulte, Simone Stünzi, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Evgeniy S. Zakharov, and Stefan Kruse
Biogeosciences, 18, 3343–3366, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3343-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3343-2021, 2021
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In the light of climate changes in subarctic regions, notable general increase in above-ground biomass for the past 15 years (2000 to 2017) was estimated along a tundra–taiga gradient of central Chukotka (Russian Far East). The greatest increase occurred in the northern taiga in the areas of larch closed-canopy forest expansion with Cajander larch as a main contributor. For the estimations, we used field data (taxa-separated plant biomass, 2018) and upscaled it based on Landsat satellite data.
Michael Krautblatter, Lutz Schirrmeister, and Josefine Lenz
Polarforschung, 89, 69–71, https://doi.org/10.5194/polf-89-69-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/polf-89-69-2021, 2021
Simone Maria Stuenzi, Julia Boike, William Cable, Ulrike Herzschuh, Stefan Kruse, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Thomas Schneider von Deimling, Sebastian Westermann, Evgenii S. Zakharov, and Moritz Langer
Biogeosciences, 18, 343–365, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-343-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-343-2021, 2021
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Boreal forests in eastern Siberia are an essential component of global climate patterns. We use a physically based model and field measurements to study the interactions between forests, permanently frozen ground and the atmosphere. We find that forests exert a strong control on the thermal state of permafrost through changing snow cover dynamics and altering the surface energy balance, through absorbing most of the incoming solar radiation and suppressing below-canopy turbulent fluxes.
Mareike Wieczorek and Ulrike Herzschuh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3515–3528, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3515-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3515-2020, 2020
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Relative pollen productivity (RPP) estimates are used to estimate vegetation cover from pollen records. This study provides (i) a compilation of northern hemispheric RPP studies, allowing researchers to identify suitable sets for their study region and to identify data gaps for future research, and (ii) taxonomically harmonized, unified RPP sets for China, Europe, North America, and the whole Northern Hemisphere, generated from the available studies.
Sebastian Wetterich, Alexander Kizyakov, Michael Fritz, Juliane Wolter, Gesine Mollenhauer, Hanno Meyer, Matthias Fuchs, Aleksei Aksenov, Heidrun Matthes, Lutz Schirrmeister, and Thomas Opel
The Cryosphere, 14, 4525–4551, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4525-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4525-2020, 2020
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In the present study, we analysed geochemical and sedimentological properties of relict permafrost and ground ice exposed at the Sobo-Sise Yedoma cliff in the eastern Lena delta in NE Siberia. We obtained insight into permafrost aggradation and degradation over the last approximately 52 000 years and the climatic and morphodynamic controls on regional-scale permafrost dynamics of the central Laptev Sea coastal region.
Arthur Monhonval, Sophie Opfergelt, Elisabeth Mauclet, Benoît Pereira, Aubry Vandeuren, Guido Grosse, Lutz Schirrmeister, Matthias Fuchs, Peter Kuhry, and Jens Strauss
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-359, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-359, 2020
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With global warming, ice-rich permafrost soils expose organic carbon to microbial degradation and unlock mineral elements as well. Interactions between mineral elements and organic carbon may enhance or mitigate microbial degradation. Here, we provide a large scale ice-rich permafrost mineral concentrations assessment and estimates of mineral element stocks in those deposits. Si is the most abundant mineral element and Fe and Al are present in the same order of magnitude as organic carbon.
Basil A. S. Davis, Manuel Chevalier, Philipp Sommer, Vachel A. Carter, Walter Finsinger, Achille Mauri, Leanne N. Phelps, Marco Zanon, Roman Abegglen, Christine M. Åkesson, Francisca Alba-Sánchez, R. Scott Anderson, Tatiana G. Antipina, Juliana R. Atanassova, Ruth Beer, Nina I. Belyanina, Tatiana A. Blyakharchuk, Olga K. Borisova, Elissaveta Bozilova, Galina Bukreeva, M. Jane Bunting, Eleonora Clò, Daniele Colombaroli, Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout, Stéphanie Desprat, Federico Di Rita, Morteza Djamali, Kevin J. Edwards, Patricia L. Fall, Angelica Feurdean, William Fletcher, Assunta Florenzano, Giulia Furlanetto, Emna Gaceur, Arsenii T. Galimov, Mariusz Gałka, Iria García-Moreiras, Thomas Giesecke, Roxana Grindean, Maria A. Guido, Irina G. Gvozdeva, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kari L. Hjelle, Sergey Ivanov, Susanne Jahns, Vlasta Jankovska, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Ikuko Kitaba, Piotr Kołaczek, Elena G. Lapteva, Małgorzata Latałowa, Vincent Lebreton, Suzanne Leroy, Michelle Leydet, Darya A. Lopatina, José Antonio López-Sáez, André F. Lotter, Donatella Magri, Elena Marinova, Isabelle Matthias, Anastasia Mavridou, Anna Maria Mercuri, Jose Manuel Mesa-Fernández, Yuri A. Mikishin, Krystyna Milecka, Carlo Montanari, César Morales-Molino, Almut Mrotzek, Castor Muñoz Sobrino, Olga D. Naidina, Takeshi Nakagawa, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Elena Y. Novenko, Sampson Panajiotidis, Nata K. Panova, Maria Papadopoulou, Heather S. Pardoe, Anna Pędziszewska, Tatiana I. Petrenko, María J. Ramos-Román, Cesare Ravazzi, Manfred Rösch, Natalia Ryabogina, Silvia Sabariego Ruiz, J. Sakari Salonen, Tatyana V. Sapelko, James E. Schofield, Heikki Seppä, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Normunds Stivrins, Philipp Stojakowits, Helena Svobodova Svitavska, Joanna Święta-Musznicka, Ioan Tantau, Willy Tinner, Kazimierz Tobolski, Spassimir Tonkov, Margarita Tsakiridou, Verushka Valsecchi, Oksana G. Zanina, and Marcelina Zimny
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2423–2445, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2423-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2423-2020, 2020
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The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) contains pollen counts and associated metadata for 8134 modern pollen samples from across the Eurasian region. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives. The purpose of the EMPD is to provide calibration datasets and other data to support palaeoecological research on past climates and vegetation cover over the Quaternary period.
Heike H. Zimmermann, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Stefan Kruse, Juliane Müller, Ruediger Stein, Ralf Tiedemann, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Ocean Sci., 16, 1017–1032, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-1017-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-1017-2020, 2020
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This study targets high-resolution, diatom-specific sedimentary ancient DNA using a DNA metabarcoding approach. Diatom DNA has been preserved with substantial taxonomic richness in the eastern Fram Strait over the past 30 000 years with taxonomic composition being dominated by cold-water and sea-ice-associated diatoms. Taxonomic reorganisations took place after the Last Glacial Maximum and after the Younger Dryas. Peak proportions of pennate diatoms might indicate past sea-ice presence.
Torben Windirsch, Guido Grosse, Mathias Ulrich, Lutz Schirrmeister, Alexander N. Fedorov, Pavel Y. Konstantinov, Matthias Fuchs, Loeka L. Jongejans, Juliane Wolter, Thomas Opel, and Jens Strauss
Biogeosciences, 17, 3797–3814, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3797-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3797-2020, 2020
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To extend the knowledge on circumpolar deep permafrost carbon storage, we examined two deep permafrost deposit types (Yedoma and alas) in central Yakutia. We found little but partially undecomposed organic carbon as a result of largely changing sedimentation processes. The carbon stock of the examined Yedoma deposits is about 50 % lower than the general Yedoma domain mean, implying a very hetererogeneous Yedoma composition, while the alas is approximately 80 % below the thermokarst deposit mean.
Lutz Schirrmeister, Elisabeth Dietze, Heidrun Matthes, Guido Grosse, Jens Strauss, Sebastian Laboor, Mathias Ulrich, Frank Kienast, and Sebastian Wetterich
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 69, 33–53, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-33-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-33-2020, 2020
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Late Pleistocene Yedoma deposits of Siberia and Alaska are prone to degradation with warming temperatures.
Multimodal grain-size distributions of >700 samples indicate varieties of sediment production, transport, and deposition.
These processes were disentangled using robust endmember modeling analysis.
Nine robust grain-size endmembers characterize these deposits.
The data set was finally classified using cluster analysis.
The polygenetic Yedoma origin is proved.
Elisabeth Dietze, Kai Mangelsdorf, Andrei Andreev, Cornelia Karger, Laura T. Schreuder, Ellen C. Hopmans, Oliver Rach, Dirk Sachse, Volker Wennrich, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Clim. Past, 16, 799–818, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-799-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-799-2020, 2020
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Long-term climate change impacts on fire, vegetation and permafrost in the Arctic are uncertain. Here, we show the high potential of organic compounds from low-temperature biomass burning to serve as proxies for surface fires in lake deposits. During warm periods of the last 430 000 years, surface fires are closely linked to the larch taiga forest with its moss–lichen ground vegetation that isolates the permafrost. They have reduced in warm–wet, spruce–dominated and cool–dry steppe environments.
Xianyong Cao, Fang Tian, Andrei Andreev, Patricia M. Anderson, Anatoly V. Lozhkin, Elena Bezrukova, Jian Ni, Natalia Rudaya, Astrid Stobbe, Mareike Wieczorek, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 119–135, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-119-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-119-2020, 2020
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Pollen percentages in spectra cannot be utilized to indicate past plant abundance directly because of the different pollen productivities among plants. In this paper, we applied relative pollen productivity estimates (PPEs) to calibrate plant abundances during the last 40 kyr using pollen counts from 203 pollen spectra in northern Asia. Results indicate the vegetation are generally stable during the Holocene and that climate change is the primary factor.
Nikita Demidov, Sebastian Wetterich, Sergey Verkulich, Aleksey Ekaykin, Hanno Meyer, Mikhail Anisimov, Lutz Schirrmeister, Vasily Demidov, and Andrew J. Hodson
The Cryosphere, 13, 3155–3169, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3155-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3155-2019, 2019
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As Norwegian geologist Liestøl (1996) recognised,
in connection with formation of pingos there are a great many unsolved questions. Drillings and temperature measurements through the pingo mound and also through the surrounding permafrost are needed before the problems can be better understood. To shed light on pingo formation here we present the results of first drilling of pingo on Spitsbergen together with results of detailed hydrochemical and stable-isotope studies of massive-ice samples.
Sebastian Wetterich, Thomas A. Davidson, Anatoly Bobrov, Thomas Opel, Torben Windirsch, Kasper L. Johansen, Ivan González-Bergonzoni, Anders Mosbech, and Erik Jeppesen
Biogeosciences, 16, 4261–4275, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4261-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4261-2019, 2019
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The effects of seabird presence on permafrost peat evolution in NW Greenland were studied by tracing changes in stable C and N isotope composition along the path from bird sources into permafrost peat. The permafrost growth was triggered by organic matter and nutrient input since the neoglacial cooling and concurrent polynya establishment. The study deals with the complex response of biologic and permafrost dynamics to High Arctic climatic and oceanographic conditions of the Late Holocene.
Julia Mitzscherling, Fabian Horn, Maria Winterfeld, Linda Mahler, Jens Kallmeyer, Pier P. Overduin, Lutz Schirrmeister, Matthias Winkel, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dirk Wagner, and Susanne Liebner
Biogeosciences, 16, 3941–3958, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3941-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3941-2019, 2019
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Permafrost temperatures increased substantially at a global scale, potentially altering microbial assemblages involved in carbon mobilization before permafrost thaws. We used Arctic Shelf submarine permafrost as a natural laboratory to investigate the microbial response to long-term permafrost warming. Our work shows that millennia after permafrost warming by > 10 °C, microbial community composition and population size reflect the paleoenvironment rather than a direct effect through warming.
Xianyong Cao, Fang Tian, Furong Li, Marie-José Gaillard, Natalia Rudaya, Qinghai Xu, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Clim. Past, 15, 1503–1536, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1503-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1503-2019, 2019
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The high-quality pollen records (collected from lakes and peat bogs) of the last 40 ka cal BP form north Asia are homogenized and the plant abundance signals are calibrated by the modern relative pollen productivity estimates. Calibrated plant abundances for each site are generally consistent with in situ modern vegetation, and vegetation changes within the regions are characterized by minor changes in the abundance of major taxa rather than by invasions of new taxa during the last 40 ka cal BP.
Thomas Opel, Julian B. Murton, Sebastian Wetterich, Hanno Meyer, Kseniia Ashastina, Frank Günther, Hendrik Grotheer, Gesine Mollenhauer, Petr P. Danilov, Vasily Boeskorov, Grigoriy N. Savvinov, and Lutz Schirrmeister
Clim. Past, 15, 1443–1461, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1443-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1443-2019, 2019
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To reconstruct past winter climate, we studied ice wedges at two sites in the Yana Highlands, interior Yakutia (Russia), the most continental region of the Northern Hemisphere. Our ice wedges of the upper ice complex unit of the Batagay megaslump and a river terrace show much more depleted stable-isotope compositions than other study sites in coastal and central Yakutia, reflecting lower winter temperatures and a higher continentality of the study region during Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 1.
Stefan Kruse, Alexander Gerdes, Nadja J. Kath, Laura S. Epp, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Biogeosciences, 16, 1211–1224, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1211-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1211-2019, 2019
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How fast might the arctic treeline in northern central Siberia migrate northwards under current global warming? To answer this, we newly parameterized dispersal processes in the individual-based and spatially explicit model LAVESI-WIND based on parentage analysis. Simulation results show that northernmost open forest stands are migrating at an unexpectedly slow rate into tundra. We conclude that the treeline currently lags behind the strong warming and will remain slow in the upcoming decades.
Stefan Kruse, Alexander Gerdes, Nadja J. Kath, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4451–4467, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4451-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4451-2018, 2018
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It is of major interest to estimate feedbacks of arctic ecosystems to global warming in the upcoming decades. However, the speed of this response is driven by the potential of species to migrate and the timing and spatial scale for this is rather uncertain. To close this knowledge gap, we updated a very detailed vegetation model by including seed and pollen dispersal driven by wind speed and direction. The new model can substantially help in unveiling the important drivers of migration dynamics.
Loeka L. Jongejans, Jens Strauss, Josefine Lenz, Francien Peterse, Kai Mangelsdorf, Matthias Fuchs, and Guido Grosse
Biogeosciences, 15, 6033–6048, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6033-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6033-2018, 2018
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Arctic warming mobilizes belowground organic matter in northern high latitudes. This study focused on the size of organic carbon pools and organic matter quality in ice-rich permafrost on the Baldwin Peninsula, West Alaska. We analyzed biogeochemistry and found that three-quarters of the carbon is stored in degraded permafrost deposits. Nonetheless, using biomarker analyses, we showed that the organic matter in undisturbed yedoma permafrost has a higher potential for decomposition.
Josefine Walz, Christian Knoblauch, Ronja Tigges, Thomas Opel, Lutz Schirrmeister, and Eva-Maria Pfeiffer
Biogeosciences, 15, 5423–5436, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5423-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5423-2018, 2018
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We investigate potential CO2 and CH4 production in degrading ice-rich permafrost in northeastern Siberia, deposited under different climatic conditions. With laboratory incubations, it could be shown that Late Pleistocene yedoma deposits generally produced more CO2 than Holocene deposits. Thus, OM decomposability needs to be interpreted against the paleoenvironmental background. However, OM decomposability cannot be generalized solely based on the stratigraphic position.
Janina G. Stapel, Georg Schwamborn, Lutz Schirrmeister, Brian Horsfield, and Kai Mangelsdorf
Biogeosciences, 15, 1969–1985, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1969-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1969-2018, 2018
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Climate warming in the Arctic results in thawing of permafrost deposits. This promotes the accessibility of freeze-locked old organic matter (OM) accumulated during the past. Characterizing OM of different depositional ages, we were able to show that OM from last glacial Yedoma deposits possess the highest potential to provide organic substrates such as acetate for microbial greenhouse gas production and therefore to accelerate the carbon–climate feedback cycle during ongoing global warming.
Matthias Fuchs, Guido Grosse, Jens Strauss, Frank Günther, Mikhail Grigoriev, Georgy M. Maximov, and Gustaf Hugelius
Biogeosciences, 15, 953–971, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-953-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-953-2018, 2018
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Our paper investigates soil organic carbon and nitrogen in permafrost soils on Sobo-Sise Island and Bykovsky Peninsula in the north of eastern Siberia. We collected and analysed permafrost soil cores and upscaled carbon and nitrogen stocks to landscape level. We found large amounts of carbon and nitrogen stored in these frozen soils, reconstructed sedimentation rates and estimated the potential increase in organic carbon availability if permafrost continues to thaw and active layer deepens.
Kseniia Ashastina, Lutz Schirrmeister, Margret Fuchs, and Frank Kienast
Clim. Past, 13, 795–818, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-795-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-795-2017, 2017
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We present the first detailed description and sedimentological analyses of an 80 m permafrost sequence exposed in a mega-thaw slump near Batagay in the Yana Highlands, Russia, and attempt to deduce its genesis. First dating results (14C, OSL) show that the sequence represents a continental climate record spanning from the Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene. We suggest that the characteristics of the studied deposits are a result of various seasonally controlled climatically induced processes.
Sebastian Westermann, Maria Peter, Moritz Langer, Georg Schwamborn, Lutz Schirrmeister, Bernd Etzelmüller, and Julia Boike
The Cryosphere, 11, 1441–1463, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1441-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1441-2017, 2017
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We demonstrate a remote-sensing-based scheme estimating the evolution of ground temperature and active layer thickness by means of a ground thermal model. A comparison to in situ observations from the Lena River delta in Siberia indicates that the model is generally capable of reproducing the annual temperature regime and seasonal thawing of the ground. The approach could hence be a first step towards remote detection of ground thermal conditions in permafrost areas.
Thomas Opel, Sebastian Wetterich, Hanno Meyer, Alexander Y. Dereviagin, Margret C. Fuchs, and Lutz Schirrmeister
Clim. Past, 13, 587–611, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-587-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-587-2017, 2017
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We studied late Quaternary permafrost at the Oyogos Yar coast (Dmitry Laptev Strait) to reconstruct palaeoclimate and palaeonvironmental conditions in the Northeast Siberian Arctic. Our ice-wedge stable isotope record, combined with data from Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island, indicates coldest winter temperatures during MIS5 and MIS2, warmest conditions during the Holocene, i.e. today, and non-stable winter climate during MIS3. New IRSL ages reveal high climate variability during MIS5.
Romy Zibulski, Felix Wesener, Heinz Wilkes, Birgit Plessen, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Biogeosciences, 14, 1617–1630, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1617-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1617-2017, 2017
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We investigated variations of isotopic and biochemical parameters in arctic mosses. We were able to differentiate habitat groups of mosses (classified by moisture gradient) by elemental content and isotopic ratios (δ13C, δ15N). Some species showed intraspecific variability in their isotopic composition along the moisture gradient. Furthermore n-alkanes showed interesting patterns for species identification.
Lutz Schirrmeister, Georg Schwamborn, Pier Paul Overduin, Jens Strauss, Margret C. Fuchs, Mikhail Grigoriev, Irina Yakshina, Janet Rethemeyer, Elisabeth Dietze, and Sebastian Wetterich
Biogeosciences, 14, 1261–1283, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1261-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1261-2017, 2017
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We investigate late Pleistocene permafrost at the Buor Khaya Peninsula (Laptev Sea, Siberia) for cryolithological, geochemical, and geochronological parameters. The sequences were composed of ice-oversaturated silts and fine-grained sands with 0.2 to 24 wt% of organic matter. The deposition was between 54.1 and 9.7 kyr BP. Due to coastal erosion, the biogeochemical signature of the deposits represents the terrestrial end-member, and is related to organic matter deposited in the marine realm.
Anne Dallmeyer, Martin Claussen, Jian Ni, Xianyong Cao, Yongbo Wang, Nils Fischer, Madlene Pfeiffer, Liya Jin, Vyacheslav Khon, Sebastian Wagner, Kerstin Haberkorn, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Clim. Past, 13, 107–134, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-107-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-107-2017, 2017
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The vegetation distribution in eastern Asia is supposed to be very sensitive to climate change. Since proxy records are scarce, hitherto a mechanistic understanding of the past spatio-temporal climate–vegetation relationship is lacking. To assess the Holocene vegetation change, we forced the diagnostic biome model BIOME4 with climate anomalies of different transient climate simulations.
Heike Hildegard Zimmermann, Elena Raschke, Laura Saskia Epp, Kathleen Rosmarie Stoof-Leichsenring, Georg Schwamborn, Lutz Schirrmeister, Pier Paul Overduin, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Biogeosciences, 14, 575–596, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-575-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-575-2017, 2017
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Organic matter stored in permafrost will start decomposing due to climate warming. To better understand its composition in ice-rich Yedoma, we analyzed ancient sedimentary DNA, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs throughout an 18.9 m long permafrost core. The combination of both proxies allow an interpretation both of regional floristic changes and of the local environmental conditions at the time of deposition.
Pier Paul Overduin, Sebastian Wetterich, Frank Günther, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Guido Grosse, Lutz Schirrmeister, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, and Aleksandr Makarov
The Cryosphere, 10, 1449–1462, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1449-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1449-2016, 2016
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How fast does permafrost warm up and thaw after it is covered by the sea? Ice-rich permafrost in the Laptev Sea, Siberia, is rapidly eroded by warm air and waves. We used a floating electrical technique to measure the depth of permafrost thaw below the sea, and compared it to 60 years of coastline retreat and permafrost depths from drilling 30 years ago. Thaw is rapid right after flooding of the land and slows over time. The depth of permafrost is related to how fast the coast retreats.
Liv Heinecke, Steffen Mischke, Karsten Adler, Anja Barth, Boris K. Biskaborn, Birgit Plessen, Ingmar Nitze, Gerhard Kuhn, Ilhomjon Rajabov, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2016-34, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2016-34, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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The climate history of the Pamir Mountains (Tajikistan) during the last ~29 kyr was investigated using sediments from Lake Karakul as environmental archive. The inferred lake level was highest from the Late Glacial to the early Holocene and lake changes were mainly coupled to climate change. We conclude that the joint influence of Westerlies and Indian Monsoon during the early Holocene caused comparatively moist conditions, while dominating Westerlies yielded dry conditions since 6.7 cal kyr BP.
Fabian Beermann, Moritz Langer, Sebastian Wetterich, Jens Strauss, Julia Boike, Claudia Fiencke, Lutz Schirrmeister, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, and Lars Kutzbach
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2016-117, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2016-117, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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This paper aims to quantify pools of inorganic nitrogen in permafrost soils of arctic Siberia and to estimate annual release rates of this nitrogen due to permafrost thaw. We report for the first time stores of inorganic nitrogen in Siberian permafrost soils. These nitrogen stores are important as permafrost thaw can mobilize substantial amounts of nitrogen, potentially changing the nutrient balance of these soils and representing a significant non-carbon permafrost climate feedback.
T. Schneider von Deimling, G. Grosse, J. Strauss, L. Schirrmeister, A. Morgenstern, S. Schaphoff, M. Meinshausen, and J. Boike
Biogeosciences, 12, 3469–3488, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3469-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3469-2015, 2015
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We have modelled the carbon release from thawing permafrost soils under various scenarios of future warming. Our results suggests that up to about 140Pg of carbon could be released under strong warming by end of the century. We have shown that abrupt thaw processes under thermokarst lakes can unlock large amounts of perennially frozen carbon stored in deep deposits (which extend many metres into the soil).
M. Fritz, T. Opel, G. Tanski, U. Herzschuh, H. Meyer, A. Eulenburg, and H. Lantuit
The Cryosphere, 9, 737–752, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-737-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-737-2015, 2015
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Ground ice in permafrost has not, until now, been considered to be a source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and other elements that are important for ecosystems and carbon cycling.
Ice wedges in the Arctic Yedoma region hold 45.2 Tg DOC (Tg = 10^12g), 33.6 Tg DIC and a freshwater reservoir of 4200 km³.
Leaching of terrestrial organic matter is the most relevant process of DOC sequestration into ground ice.
B. Aichner, S. J. Feakins, J. E. Lee, U. Herzschuh, and X. Liu
Clim. Past, 11, 619–633, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-619-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-619-2015, 2015
A. Dallmeyer, M. Claussen, N. Fischer, K. Haberkorn, S. Wagner, M. Pfeiffer, L. Jin, V. Khon, Y. Wang, and U. Herzschuh
Clim. Past, 11, 305–326, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-305-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-305-2015, 2015
G. Hugelius, J. Strauss, S. Zubrzycki, J. W. Harden, E. A. G. Schuur, C.-L. Ping, L. Schirrmeister, G. Grosse, G. J. Michaelson, C. D. Koven, J. A. O'Donnell, B. Elberling, U. Mishra, P. Camill, Z. Yu, J. Palmtag, and P. Kuhry
Biogeosciences, 11, 6573–6593, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6573-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6573-2014, 2014
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This study provides an updated estimate of organic carbon stored in the northern permafrost region. The study includes estimates for carbon in soils (0 to 3 m depth) and deeper sediments in river deltas and the Yedoma region. We find that field data is still scarce from many regions. Total estimated carbon storage is ~1300 Pg with an uncertainty range of between 1100 and 1500 Pg. Around 800 Pg carbon is perennially frozen, equivalent to all carbon dioxide currently in the Earth's atmosphere.
G. Schwamborn, H. Meyer, L. Schirrmeister, and G. Fedorov
Clim. Past, 10, 1109–1123, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1109-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1109-2014, 2014
A. A. Andreev, P. E. Tarasov, V. Wennrich, E. Raschke, U. Herzschuh, N. R. Nowaczyk, J. Brigham-Grette, and M. Melles
Clim. Past, 10, 1017–1039, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1017-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1017-2014, 2014
Y. Wang, U. Herzschuh, L. S. Shumilovskikh, S. Mischke, H. J. B. Birks, J. Wischnewski, J. Böhner, F. Schlütz, F. Lehmkuhl, B. Diekmann, B. Wünnemann, and C. Zhang
Clim. Past, 10, 21–39, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-21-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-21-2014, 2014
G. Hugelius, J. G. Bockheim, P. Camill, B. Elberling, G. Grosse, J. W. Harden, K. Johnson, T. Jorgenson, C. D. Koven, P. Kuhry, G. Michaelson, U. Mishra, J. Palmtag, C.-L. Ping, J. O'Donnell, L. Schirrmeister, E. A. G. Schuur, Y. Sheng, L. C. Smith, J. Strauss, and Z. Yu
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 5, 393–402, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-393-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-393-2013, 2013
G. Schwamborn, L. Schirrmeister, and B. Diekmann
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cpd-9-6255-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cpd-9-6255-2013, 2013
Preprint withdrawn
R. Zibulski, U. Herzschuh, L. A. Pestryakova, J. Wolter, S. Müller, N. Schilling, S. Wetterich, L. Schirrmeister, and F. Tian
Biogeosciences, 10, 5703–5728, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-5703-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-5703-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Biogeochemistry: Sediment
Influence of minor hydrocarbon seepage on sulfur cycling in marine subsurface sediments
Dissolved Mn(III) is a key redox intermediate in sediments of a seasonally euxinic coastal basin
Unexpected scarcity of ANME archaea in hydrocarbon seeps within Monterey Bay
Organic Carbon, Mercury, and Sediment Characteristics along a land – shore transect in Arctic Alaska
Reviews and syntheses: Tufa microbialites on rocky coasts – towards an integrated terminology
Seafloor sediment characterization improves estimates of organic carbon standing stocks: an example from the Eastern Shore Islands, Nova Scotia, Canada
How is particulate organic carbon transported through the river-fed submarine Congo Canyon to the deep sea?
Ancient clays support contemporary biogeochemical activity in the Critical Zone
The fate of fixed nitrogen in Santa Barbara Basin sediments during seasonal anoxia
Distinct oxygenation modes of the Gulf of Oman over the past 43 000 years – a multi-proxy approach
Potential impacts of cable bacteria activity on hard-shelled benthic foraminifera: implications for their interpretation as bioindicators or paleoproxies
Evidence of cryptic methane cycling and non-methanogenic methylamine consumption in the sulfate-reducing zone of sediment in the Santa Barbara Basin, California
Assessing global-scale organic matter reactivity patterns in marine sediments using a lognormal reactive continuum model
Deposit-feeding of Nonionellina labradorica (foraminifera) from an Arctic methane seep site and possible association with a methanotroph
Benthic silicon cycling in the Arctic Barents Sea: a reaction–transport model study
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Geochemical consequences of oxygen diffusion from the oceanic crust into overlying sediments and its significance for biogeochemical cycles based on sediments of the northeast Pacific
Carbon sources of benthic fauna in temperate lakes across multiple trophic states
Deep-water inflow event increases sedimentary phosphorus release on a multi-year scale
Bioturbation has a limited effect on phosphorus burial in salt marsh sediments
Biogeochemical impact of cable bacteria on coastal Black Sea sediment
Organic carbon characteristics in ice-rich permafrost in alas and Yedoma deposits, central Yakutia, Siberia
The control of hydrogen sulfide on benthic iron and cadmium fluxes in the oxygen minimum zone off Peru
Quantity and distribution of methane entrapped in sediments of calcareous, Alpine glacier forefields
Assessing the potential for non-turbulent methane escape from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf
Vertical transport of sediment-associated metals and cyanobacteria by ebullition in a stratified lake
Evidence of changes in sedimentation rate and sediment fabric in a low-oxygen setting: Santa Monica Basin, CA
Authigenic formation of Ca–Mg carbonates in the shallow alkaline Lake Neusiedl, Austria
Vivianite formation in ferruginous sediments from Lake Towuti, Indonesia
Impact of ambient conditions on the Si isotope fractionation in marine pore fluids during early diagenesis
Impact of small-scale disturbances on geochemical conditions, biogeochemical processes and element fluxes in surface sediments of the eastern Clarion–Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean
Acetate turnover and methanogenic pathways in Amazonian lake sediments
Benthic alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon fluxes in the Rhône River prodelta generated by decoupled aerobic and anaerobic processes
Small-scale heterogeneity of trace metals including rare earth elements and yttrium in deep-sea sediments and porewaters of the Peru Basin, southeastern equatorial Pacific
Organic matter contents and degradation in a highly trawled area during fresh particle inputs (Gulf of Castellammare, southwestern Mediterranean)
Identifying the core bacterial microbiome of hydrocarbon degradation and a shift of dominant methanogenesis pathways in the oil and aqueous phases of petroleum reservoirs of different temperatures from China
Effects of eutrophication on sedimentary organic carbon cycling in five temperate lakes
Evidence for microbial iron reduction in the methanic sediments of the oligotrophic southeastern Mediterranean continental shelf
Fracture-controlled fluid transport supports microbial methane-oxidizing communities at Vestnesa Ridge
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Large variations in iron input to an oligotrophic Baltic Sea estuary: impact on sedimentary phosphorus burial
Vivianite formation in methane-rich deep-sea sediments from the South China Sea
Benthic archaea as potential sources of tetraether membrane lipids in sediments across an oxygen minimum zone
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Modelling biogeochemical processes in sediments from the north-western Adriatic Sea: response to enhanced particulate organic carbon fluxes
Carbon mineralization in Laptev and East Siberian sea shelf and slope sediment
Reviews and syntheses: to the bottom of carbon processing at the seafloor
Scotland's forgotten carbon: a national assessment of mid-latitude fjord sedimentary carbon stocks
Ellen Schnabel, Aurèle Vuillemin, Cédric C. Laczny, Benoit J. Kunath, André R. Soares, Alexander J. Probst, Rolando Di Primio, Jens Kallmeyer, and the PROSPECTOMICS Consortium
Biogeosciences, 22, 767–784, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-767-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-767-2025, 2025
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This study analysed marine sediment samples from areas with and without minimal hydrocarbon seepage from reservoirs underneath. Depth profiles of dissolved chemical components in the pore water and molecular biological data revealed differences in microbial community composition and activity. These results indicate that even minor hydrocarbon seepage affects sedimentary biogeochemical cycling in marine sediments, potentially providing a new tool for the detection of hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Robin Klomp, Olga M. Żygadłowska, Mike S. M. Jetten, Véronique E. Oldham, Niels A. G. M. van Helmond, Caroline P. Slomp, and Wytze K. Lenstra
Biogeosciences, 22, 751–765, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-751-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-751-2025, 2025
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In marine sediments, dissolved Mn is present as either Mn(III) or Mn(II). We apply a reactive transport model to geochemical data for a seasonally anoxic and sulfidic coastal basin to determine the pathways of formation and removal of dissolved Mn(III) in the sediment. We demonstrate a critical role for reactions with Fe(II) and show evidence for substantial benthic release of dissolved Mn(III). Given the mobility of Mn(III), these findings have important implications for marine Mn cycling.
Amanda C. Semler and Anne E. Dekas
Biogeosciences, 22, 385–403, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-385-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-385-2025, 2025
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Marine hydrocarbon seeps typically host subsurface microorganisms capable of degrading methane before it is emitted to the water column. Here we describe a seep in Monterey Bay which virtually lacks known methanotrophs and where biological consumption of methane at depth is undetected. Our findings suggest that some seeps are missing this critical biofilter and that seeps may be a more significant source of methane to the water column than previously realized.
Frieda P. Giest, Maren Jenrich, Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, Kai Mangelsdorf, Torben Windirsch, and Jens Strauss
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3683, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3683, 2024
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Climate warming causes permafrost to thaw, releasing greenhouse gases and affecting ecosystems. We studied sediments from Arctic coastal landscapes, including land, lakes, lagoons, and the ocean, finding that organic carbon storage and quality vary with landscape features and saltwater influence. Freshwater and land areas store more carbon, while saltwater reduces its quality. These findings improve predictions of Arctic responses to climate change and their impact on global carbon cycling.
Thomas W. Garner, J. Andrew G. Cooper, Alan M. Smith, Gavin M. Rishworth, and Matt Forbes
Biogeosciences, 21, 4785–4807, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4785-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4785-2024, 2024
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There is a diverse and often conflicting suite of terminologies, classifications, and nomenclature applicable to the study of terrestrial carbonate deposits and microbialites (deposits that wholly or primarily accrete as a result of microbial activity). We review existing schemes, identify duplication and redundancy, and present a new integrated approach applicable to tufa microbialites on rock coasts.
Catherine Brenan, Markus Kienast, Vittorio Maselli, Christopher K. Algar, Benjamin Misiuk, and Craig J. Brown
Biogeosciences, 21, 4569–4586, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4569-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4569-2024, 2024
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Quantifying how much organic carbon is stored in seafloor sediments is key to assessing how human activities can accelerate the process of carbon storage at the seabed, an important consideration for climate change. This study uses seafloor sediment maps to model organic carbon content. Carbon estimates were 12 times higher when assuming the absence of detailed sediment maps, demonstrating that high-resolution seafloor mapping is critically important for improved estimates of organic carbon.
Sophie Hage, Megan L. Baker, Nathalie Babonneau, Guillaume Soulet, Bernard Dennielou, Ricardo Silva Jacinto, Robert G. Hilton, Valier Galy, François Baudin, Christophe Rabouille, Clément Vic, Sefa Sahin, Sanem Açikalin, and Peter J. Talling
Biogeosciences, 21, 4251–4272, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4251-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4251-2024, 2024
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The land-to-ocean flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) is difficult to measure, inhibiting accurate modeling of the global carbon cycle. Here, we quantify the POC flux between one of the largest rivers on Earth (Congo) and the ocean. POC in the form of vegetation and soil is transported by episodic submarine avalanches in a 1000 km long canyon at up to 5 km water depth. The POC flux induced by avalanches is at least 3 times greater than that induced by the background flow related to tides.
Vanessa M. Alfonso, Peter M. Groffman, Zhongqi Cheng, and David E. Seidemann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1165, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1165, 2024
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This study sought to explore organic-mineral interactions by investigating the functional performance of exposed clays through measurements of biogeochemical processes occurring on these materials. Results indicate that ancient clays are contributing to contemporary biogeochemical processes at ecosystem and landscape scales by supporting an active microbial community and a wide range of nitrogen cycle processes encompassing mineralization, immobilization, nitrification, and denitrification.
Xuefeng Peng, David J. Yousavich, Annie Bourbonnais, Frank Wenzhöfer, Felix Janssen, Tina Treude, and David L. Valentine
Biogeosciences, 21, 3041–3052, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3041-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3041-2024, 2024
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Biologically available (fixed) nitrogen (N) is a limiting nutrient for life in the ocean. Under low-oxygen conditions, fixed N is either removed via denitrification or retained via dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA). Using in situ incubations in the Santa Barbara Basin, which undergoes seasonal anoxia, we found that benthic denitrification was the dominant nitrate reduction process, while nitrate availability and organic carbon content control the relative importance of DNRA.
Nicole Burdanowitz, Gerhard Schmiedl, Birgit Gaye, Philipp M. Munz, and Hartmut Schulz
Biogeosciences, 21, 1477–1499, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1477-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1477-2024, 2024
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We analyse benthic foraminifera, nitrogen isotopes and lipids in a sediment core from the Gulf of Oman to investigate how the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) and bottom water (BW) oxygenation have reacted to climatic changes since 43 ka. The OMZ and BW deoxygenation was strong during the Holocene, but the OMZ was well ventilated during the LGM period. We found an unstable mode of oscillating oxygenation states, from moderately oxygenated in cold stadials to deoxygenated in warm interstadials in MIS 3.
Maxime Daviray, Emmanuelle Geslin, Nils Risgaard-Petersen, Vincent V. Scholz, Marie Fouet, and Edouard Metzger
Biogeosciences, 21, 911–928, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-911-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-911-2024, 2024
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Coastal marine sediments are subject to major acidification processes because of climate change and human activities, but these processes can also result from biotic activity. We studied the sediment acidifcation effect on benthic calcareous foraminifera in intertidal mudflats. The strong pH decrease in sediments probably caused by cable bacteria led to calcareous test dissolution of living and dead foraminifera, threatening the test preservation and their robustness as environmental proxies.
Sebastian J. E. Krause, Jiarui Liu, David J. Yousavich, DeMarcus Robinson, David W. Hoyt, Qianhui Qin, Frank Wenzhöfer, Felix Janssen, David L. Valentine, and Tina Treude
Biogeosciences, 20, 4377–4390, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4377-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4377-2023, 2023
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and hence it is important to understand its sources and sinks in the environment. Here we present new data from organic-rich surface sediments below an oxygen minimum zone off the coast of California (Santa Barbara Basin) demonstrating the simultaneous microbial production and consumption of methane, which appears to be an important process preventing the build-up of methane in these sediments and the emission into the water column and atmosphere.
Sinan Xu, Bo Liu, Sandra Arndt, Sabine Kasten, and Zijun Wu
Biogeosciences, 20, 2251–2263, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2251-2023, 2023
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We use a reactive continuum model based on a lognormal distribution (l-RCM) to inversely determine model parameters μ and σ at 123 sites across the global ocean. Our results show organic matter (OM) reactivity is more than 3 orders of magnitude higher in shelf than in abyssal regions. In addition, OM reactivity is higher than predicted in some specific regions, yet the l-RCM can still capture OM reactivity features in these regions.
Christiane Schmidt, Emmanuelle Geslin, Joan M. Bernhard, Charlotte LeKieffre, Mette Marianne Svenning, Helene Roberge, Magali Schweizer, and Giuliana Panieri
Biogeosciences, 19, 3897–3909, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3897-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3897-2022, 2022
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This study is the first to show non-selective deposit feeding in the foraminifera Nonionella labradorica and the possible uptake of methanotrophic bacteria. We carried out a feeding experiment with a marine methanotroph to examine the ultrastructure of the cell and degradation vacuoles using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results revealed three putative methanotrophs at the outside of the cell/test, which could be taken up via non-targeted grazing in seeps or our experiment.
James P. J. Ward, Katharine R. Hendry, Sandra Arndt, Johan C. Faust, Felipe S. Freitas, Sian F. Henley, Jeffrey W. Krause, Christian März, Allyson C. Tessin, and Ruth L. Airs
Biogeosciences, 19, 3445–3467, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3445-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3445-2022, 2022
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The seafloor plays an important role in the cycling of silicon (Si), a key nutrient that promotes marine primary productivity. In our model study, we disentangle major controls on the seafloor Si cycle to better anticipate the impacts of continued warming and sea ice melt in the Barents Sea. We uncover a coupling of the iron redox and Si cycles, dissolution of lithogenic silicates, and authigenic clay formation, comprising a Si sink that could have implications for the Arctic Ocean Si budget.
Hanni Vigderovich, Werner Eckert, Michal Elul, Maxim Rubin-Blum, Marcus Elvert, and Orit Sivan
Biogeosciences, 19, 2313–2331, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2313-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2313-2022, 2022
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Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is one of the major processes limiting the release of the greenhouse gas methane from natural environments. Here we show that significant AOM exists in the methane zone of lake sediments in natural conditions and even after long-term (ca. 18 months) anaerobic slurry incubations with two stages. Methanogens were most likely responsible for oxidizing the methane, and humic substances and iron oxides are likely electron acceptors to support this oxidation.
Bjorn Sundby, Pierre Anschutz, Pascal Lecroart, and Alfonso Mucci
Biogeosciences, 19, 1421–1434, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1421-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1421-2022, 2022
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A glacial–interglacial methane-fuelled redistribution of reactive phosphorus between the oceanic and sedimentary phosphorus reservoirs can occur in the ocean when falling sea level lowers the pressure on the seafloor, destabilizes methane hydrates, and triggers the dissolution of P-bearing iron oxides. The mass of phosphate potentially mobilizable from the sediment is similar to the size of the current oceanic reservoir. Hence, this process may play a major role in the marine phosphorus cycle.
Florian Lauryssen, Philippe Crombé, Tom Maris, Elliot Van Maldegem, Marijn Van de Broek, Stijn Temmerman, and Erik Smolders
Biogeosciences, 19, 763–776, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-763-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-763-2022, 2022
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Surface waters in lowland regions have a poor surface water quality, mainly due to excess nutrients like phosphate. Therefore, we wanted to know the phosphate levels without humans, also called the pre-industrial background. Phosphate binds strongly to sediment particles, suspended in the river water. In this research we used sediments deposited by a river as an archive for surface water phosphate back to 1800 CE. Pre-industrial phosphate levels were estimated at one-third of the modern levels.
Gerard J. M. Versteegh, Andrea Koschinsky, Thomas Kuhn, Inken Preuss, and Sabine Kasten
Biogeosciences, 18, 4965–4984, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4965-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4965-2021, 2021
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Oxygen penetrates sediments not only from the ocean bottom waters but also from the basement. The impact of the latter is poorly understood. We show that this basement oxygen has a clear impact on the nitrogen cycle, the redox state, and the distribution of manganese, nickel cobalt and organic matter in the sediments. This is important for (1) global biogeochemical cycles, (2) understanding sedimentary life and (3) the interpretation of the sediment record to reconstruct the past.
Annika Fiskal, Eva Anthamatten, Longhui Deng, Xingguo Han, Lorenzo Lagostina, Anja Michel, Rong Zhu, Nathalie Dubois, Carsten J. Schubert, Stefano M. Bernasconi, and Mark A. Lever
Biogeosciences, 18, 4369–4388, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4369-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4369-2021, 2021
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Microbially produced methane can serve as a carbon source for freshwater macrofauna most likely through grazing on methane-oxidizing bacteria. This study investigates the contributions of different carbon sources to macrofaunal biomass. Our data suggest that the average contribution of methane-derived carbon is similar between different fauna but overall remains low. This is further supported by the low abundance of methane-cycling microorganisms.
Astrid Hylén, Sebastiaan J. van de Velde, Mikhail Kononets, Mingyue Luo, Elin Almroth-Rosell, and Per O. J. Hall
Biogeosciences, 18, 2981–3004, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2981-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2981-2021, 2021
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Sediments in oxygen-depleted ocean areas release high amounts of phosphorus, feeding algae that consume oxygen upon degradation, leading to further phosphorus release. Oxygenation is thought to trap phosphorus in the sediment and break this feedback. We studied the sediment phosphorus cycle in a previously anoxic area after an inflow of oxic water. Surprisingly, the sediment phosphorus release increased, showing that feedbacks between phosphorus release and oxygen depletion can be hard to break.
Sebastiaan J. van de Velde, Rebecca K. James, Ine Callebaut, Silvia Hidalgo-Martinez, and Filip J. R. Meysman
Biogeosciences, 18, 1451–1461, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1451-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1451-2021, 2021
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Some 540 Myr ago, animal life evolved in the ocean. Previous research suggested that when these early animals started inhabiting the seafloor, they retained phosphorus in the seafloor, thereby limiting photosynthesis in the ocean. We studied salt marsh sediments with and without animals and found that their impact on phosphorus retention is limited, which implies that their impact on the global environment might have been less drastic than previously assumed.
Martijn Hermans, Nils Risgaard-Petersen, Filip J. R. Meysman, and Caroline P. Slomp
Biogeosciences, 17, 5919–5938, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5919-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5919-2020, 2020
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This paper demonstrates that the recently discovered cable bacteria are capable of using a mineral, known as siderite, as a source for the formation of iron oxides. This work also demonstrates that the activity of cable bacteria can lead to a distinct subsurface layer in the sediment that can be used as a marker for their activity.
Torben Windirsch, Guido Grosse, Mathias Ulrich, Lutz Schirrmeister, Alexander N. Fedorov, Pavel Y. Konstantinov, Matthias Fuchs, Loeka L. Jongejans, Juliane Wolter, Thomas Opel, and Jens Strauss
Biogeosciences, 17, 3797–3814, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3797-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3797-2020, 2020
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To extend the knowledge on circumpolar deep permafrost carbon storage, we examined two deep permafrost deposit types (Yedoma and alas) in central Yakutia. We found little but partially undecomposed organic carbon as a result of largely changing sedimentation processes. The carbon stock of the examined Yedoma deposits is about 50 % lower than the general Yedoma domain mean, implying a very hetererogeneous Yedoma composition, while the alas is approximately 80 % below the thermokarst deposit mean.
Anna Plass, Christian Schlosser, Stefan Sommer, Andrew W. Dale, Eric P. Achterberg, and Florian Scholz
Biogeosciences, 17, 3685–3704, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3685-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3685-2020, 2020
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We compare the cycling of Fe and Cd in sulfidic sediments of the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone. Due to the contrasting solubility of their sulfide minerals, the sedimentary Fe release and Cd burial fluxes covary with spatial and temporal distributions of H2S. Depending on the solubility of their sulfide minerals, sedimentary trace metal fluxes will respond differently to ocean deoxygenation/expansion of H2S concentrations, which may change trace metal stoichiometry of upwelling water masses.
Biqing Zhu, Manuel Kübler, Melanie Ridoli, Daniel Breitenstein, and Martin H. Schroth
Biogeosciences, 17, 3613–3630, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3613-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3613-2020, 2020
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We provide evidence that the greenhouse gas methane (CH4) is enclosed in calcareous glacier-forefield sediments across Switzerland. Geochemical analyses confirmed that this ancient CH4 has its origin in the calcareous parent bedrock. Our estimate of the total quantity of CH4 enclosed in sediments across Switzerland indicates a large CH4 mass (~105 t CH4). We produced evidence that CH4 is stable in its enclosed state, but additional experiments are needed to elucidate its long-term fate.
Matteo Puglini, Victor Brovkin, Pierre Regnier, and Sandra Arndt
Biogeosciences, 17, 3247–3275, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3247-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3247-2020, 2020
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A reaction-transport model to assess the potential non-turbulent methane flux from the East Siberian Arctic sediments to water columns is applied here. We show that anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is an efficient filter except for high values of sedimentation rate and advective flow, which enable considerable non-turbulent steady-state methane fluxes. Significant transient methane fluxes can also occur during the building-up phase of the AOM-performing biomass microbial community.
Kyle Delwiche, Junyao Gu, Harold Hemond, and Sarah P. Preheim
Biogeosciences, 17, 3135–3147, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3135-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3135-2020, 2020
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In this study, we investigate whether bubbles transport sediments containing arsenic and cyanobacteria from the bottom to the top of a polluted lake. We measured arsenic and cyanobacteria from bubble traps in the lake and from an experimental bubble column in the laboratory. We found that bubble transport was not an important source of arsenic in the surface waters but that bubbles could transport enough cyanobacteria to the surface to exacerbate harmful algal blooms.
Nathaniel Kemnitz, William M. Berelson, Douglas E. Hammond, Laura Morine, Maria Figueroa, Timothy W. Lyons, Simon Scharf, Nick Rollins, Elizabeth Petsios, Sydnie Lemieux, and Tina Treude
Biogeosciences, 17, 2381–2396, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2381-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2381-2020, 2020
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Our paper shows how sedimentation in a very low oxygen setting provides a unique record of environmental change. We look at the past 250 years through the filter of sediment accumulation via radioisotope dating and other physical and chemical analyses of these sediments. We conclude, remarkably, that there has been very little change in net sediment mass accumulation through the past 100–150 years, yet just prior to 1900 CE, sediments were accumulating at 50 %–70 % of today's rate.
Dario Fussmann, Avril Jean Elisabeth von Hoyningen-Huene, Andreas Reimer, Dominik Schneider, Hana Babková, Robert Peticzka, Andreas Maier, Gernot Arp, Rolf Daniel, and Patrick Meister
Biogeosciences, 17, 2085–2106, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2085-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2085-2020, 2020
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Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) is supersaturated in many aquatic settings (e.g., seawater) on modern Earth but does not precipitate directly from the fluid, a fact known as the dolomite problem. The widely acknowledged concept of dolomite precipitation involves microbial extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) and anoxic conditions as important drivers. In contrast, results from Lake Neusiedl support an alternative concept of Ca–Mg carbonate precipitation under aerobic and alkaline conditions.
Aurèle Vuillemin, André Friese, Richard Wirth, Jan A. Schuessler, Anja M. Schleicher, Helga Kemnitz, Andreas Lücke, Kohen W. Bauer, Sulung Nomosatryo, Friedhelm von Blanckenburg, Rachel Simister, Luis G. Ordoñez, Daniel Ariztegui, Cynthia Henny, James M. Russell, Satria Bijaksana, Hendrik Vogel, Sean A. Crowe, Jens Kallmeyer, and the Towuti Drilling Project
Science team
Biogeosciences, 17, 1955–1973, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1955-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1955-2020, 2020
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Ferruginous lakes experience restricted primary production due to phosphorus trapping by ferric iron oxides under oxic conditions. We report the presence of large crystals of vivianite, a ferrous iron phosphate, in sediments from Lake Towuti, Indonesia. We address processes of P retention linked to diagenesis of iron phases. Vivianite crystals had light Fe2+ isotope signatures and contained mineral inclusions consistent with antecedent processes of microbial sulfate and iron reduction.
Sonja Geilert, Patricia Grasse, Kristin Doering, Klaus Wallmann, Claudia Ehlert, Florian Scholz, Martin Frank, Mark Schmidt, and Christian Hensen
Biogeosciences, 17, 1745–1763, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1745-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1745-2020, 2020
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Marine silicate weathering is a key process of the marine silica cycle; however, its controlling processes are not well understood. In the Guaymas Basin, silicate weathering has been studied under markedly differing ambient conditions. Environmental settings like redox conditions or terrigenous input of reactive silicates appear to be major factors controlling marine silicate weathering. These factors need to be taken into account in future oceanic mass balances of Si and in modeling studies.
Jessica B. Volz, Laura Haffert, Matthias Haeckel, Andrea Koschinsky, and Sabine Kasten
Biogeosciences, 17, 1113–1131, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1113-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1113-2020, 2020
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Potential future deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules at the seafloor is expected to severely harm the marine environment. However, the consequences on deep-sea ecosystems are still poorly understood. This study on surface sediments from man-made disturbance tracks in the Pacific Ocean shows that due to the removal of the uppermost sediment layer and thereby the loss of organic matter, the geochemical system in the sediments is disturbed for millennia before reaching a new equilibrium.
Ralf Conrad, Melanie Klose, and Alex Enrich-Prast
Biogeosciences, 17, 1063–1069, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1063-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1063-2020, 2020
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Lake sediments release the greenhouse gas CH4. Acetate is an important precursor. Although Amazonian lake sediments all contained acetate-consuming methanogens, measurement of the turnover of labeled acetate showed that some sediments converted acetate not to CH4 plus CO2, as expected, but only to CO2. Our results indicate the operation of acetate-oxidizing microorganisms couples the oxidation process to syntrophic methanogenic partners and/or to the reduction of organic compounds.
Jens Rassmann, Eryn M. Eitel, Bruno Lansard, Cécile Cathalot, Christophe Brandily, Martial Taillefert, and Christophe Rabouille
Biogeosciences, 17, 13–33, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-13-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-13-2020, 2020
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In this paper, we use a large set of measurements made using in situ and lab techniques to elucidate the cause of dissolved inorganic carbon fluxes in sediments from the Rhône delta and its companion compound alkalinity, which carries the absorption capacity of coastal waters with respect to atmospheric CO2. We show that sediment processes (sulfate reduction, FeS precipitation and accumulation) are crucial in generating the alkalinity fluxes observed in this study by in situ incubation chambers.
Sophie A. L. Paul, Matthias Haeckel, Michael Bau, Rajina Bajracharya, and Andrea Koschinsky
Biogeosciences, 16, 4829–4849, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4829-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4829-2019, 2019
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We studied the upper 10 m of deep-sea sediments, including pore water, in the Peru Basin to understand small-scale variability of trace metals. Our results show high spatial variability related to topographical variations, which in turn impact organic matter contents, degradation processes, and trace metal cycling. Another interesting finding was the influence of dissolving buried nodules on the surrounding sediment and trace metal cycling.
Sarah Paradis, Antonio Pusceddu, Pere Masqué, Pere Puig, Davide Moccia, Tommaso Russo, and Claudio Lo Iacono
Biogeosciences, 16, 4307–4320, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4307-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4307-2019, 2019
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Chronic deep bottom trawling in the Gulf of Castellammare (SW Mediterranean) erodes large volumes of sediment, exposing over-century-old sediment depleted in organic matter. Nevertheless, the arrival of fresh and nutritious sediment recovers superficial organic matter in trawling grounds and leads to high turnover rates, partially and temporarily mitigating the impacts of bottom trawling. However, this deposition is ephemeral and it will be swiftly eroded by the passage of the next trawler.
Zhichao Zhou, Bo Liang, Li-Ying Wang, Jin-Feng Liu, Bo-Zhong Mu, Hojae Shim, and Ji-Dong Gu
Biogeosciences, 16, 4229–4241, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4229-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4229-2019, 2019
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This study shows a core bacterial microbiome with a small proportion of shared operational taxonomic units of common sequences among all oil reservoirs. Dominant methanogenesis shifts from the hydrogenotrophic pathway in water phase to the acetoclastic pathway in the oil phase at high temperatures, but the opposite is true at low temperatures. There are also major functional metabolism differences between the two phases for amino acids, hydrocarbons, and carbohydrates.
Annika Fiskal, Longhui Deng, Anja Michel, Philip Eickenbusch, Xingguo Han, Lorenzo Lagostina, Rong Zhu, Michael Sander, Martin H. Schroth, Stefano M. Bernasconi, Nathalie Dubois, and Mark A. Lever
Biogeosciences, 16, 3725–3746, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3725-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3725-2019, 2019
Hanni Vigderovich, Lewen Liang, Barak Herut, Fengping Wang, Eyal Wurgaft, Maxim Rubin-Blum, and Orit Sivan
Biogeosciences, 16, 3165–3181, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3165-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3165-2019, 2019
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Microbial iron reduction participates in important biogeochemical cycles. In the last decade iron reduction has been observed in many aquatic sediments below its classical zone, in the methane production zone, suggesting a link between the two cycles. Here we present evidence for microbial iron reduction in the methanogenic depth of the oligotrophic SE Mediterranean continental shelf using mainly geochemical and microbial sedimentary profiles and suggest possible mechanisms for this process.
Haoyi Yao, Wei-Li Hong, Giuliana Panieri, Simone Sauer, Marta E. Torres, Moritz F. Lehmann, Friederike Gründger, and Helge Niemann
Biogeosciences, 16, 2221–2232, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2221-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2221-2019, 2019
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How methane is transported in the sediment is important for the microbial community living on methane. Here we report an observation of a mini-fracture that facilitates the advective gas transport of methane in the sediment, compared to the diffusive fluid transport without a fracture. We found contrasting bio-geochemical signals in these different transport modes. This finding can help to fill the gap in the fracture network system in modulating methane dynamics in surface sediments.
Laura A. Casella, Sixin He, Erika Griesshaber, Lourdes Fernández-Díaz, Martina Greiner, Elizabeth M. Harper, Daniel J. Jackson, Andreas Ziegler, Vasileios Mavromatis, Martin Dietzel, Anton Eisenhauer, Sabino Veintemillas-Verdaguer, Uwe Brand, and Wolfgang W. Schmahl
Biogeosciences, 15, 7451–7484, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7451-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7451-2018, 2018
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Biogenic carbonates record past environmental conditions. Fossil shell chemistry and microstructure change as metastable biogenic carbonates are replaced by inorganic calcite. Simulated diagenetic alteration at 175 °C of different shell microstructures showed that (nacreous) shell aragonite and calcite were partially replaced by coarse inorganic calcite crystals due to dissolution–reprecipitation reactions. EBSD maps allowed for qualitative assessment of the degree of diagenetic overprint.
Wytze K. Lenstra, Matthias Egger, Niels A. G. M. van Helmond, Emma Kritzberg, Daniel J. Conley, and Caroline P. Slomp
Biogeosciences, 15, 6979–6996, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6979-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6979-2018, 2018
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We show that burial rates of phosphorus (P) in an estuary in the northern Baltic Sea are very high. We demonstrate that at high sedimentation rates, P retention in the sediment is related to the formation of vivianite. With a reactive transport model, we assess the sensitivity of sedimentary vivianite formation. We suggest that enrichments of iron and P in the sediment are linked to periods of enhanced riverine input of Fe, which subsequently strongly enhances P burial in coastal sediments.
Jiarui Liu, Gareth Izon, Jiasheng Wang, Gilad Antler, Zhou Wang, Jie Zhao, and Matthias Egger
Biogeosciences, 15, 6329–6348, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6329-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6329-2018, 2018
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Our work provides new insights into the biogeochemical cycling of iron, methane and phosphorus. We found that vivianite, an iron-phosphate mineral, is pervasive in methane-rich sediments, suggesting that iron reduction at depth is coupled to phosphorus and methane cycling on a much greater spatial scale than previously assumed. Acting as an important burial mechanism for iron and phosphorus, vivianite authigenesis may be an under-considered process in both modern and ancient settings alike.
Marc A. Besseling, Ellen C. Hopmans, R. Christine Boschman, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté, and Laura Villanueva
Biogeosciences, 15, 4047–4064, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4047-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4047-2018, 2018
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Benthic archaea comprise a significant part of the total prokaryotic biomass in marine sediments. Here, we compared the archaeal diversity and intact polar lipid (IPL) composition in both surface and subsurface sediments with different oxygen regimes in the Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone. The oxygenated sediments were dominated by Thaumarchaeota and IPL-GDGT-0. The anoxic sediment contained highly diverse archaeal communities and high relative abundances of IPL-GDGT-1 to -4.
Georgina Robinson, Thomas MacTavish, Candida Savage, Gary S. Caldwell, Clifford L. W. Jones, Trevor Probyn, Bradley D. Eyre, and Selina M. Stead
Biogeosciences, 15, 1863–1878, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1863-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1863-2018, 2018
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This study examined the effect of adding carbon to a sediment-based effluent treatment system to treat nitrogen-rich aquaculture waste. The research was conducted in incubation chambers to measure the exchange of gases and nutrients across the sediment–water interface and examine changes in the sediment microbial community. Adding carbon increased the amount of nitrogen retained in the treatment system, thereby reducing the levels of nitrogen needing to be discharged to the environment.
Daniele Brigolin, Christophe Rabouille, Bruno Bombled, Silvia Colla, Salvatrice Vizzini, Roberto Pastres, and Fabio Pranovi
Biogeosciences, 15, 1347–1366, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1347-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1347-2018, 2018
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We present the result of a study carried out in the north-western Adriatic Sea by combining two different types of models with field sampling. A mussel farm was taken as a local source of perturbation to the natural flux of particulate organic carbon to the sediment. Differences in fluxes were primarily associated with mussel physiological conditions. Although restricted, these changes in particulate organic carbon fluxes induced visible effects on sediment biogeochemistry.
Volker Brüchert, Lisa Bröder, Joanna E. Sawicka, Tommaso Tesi, Samantha P. Joye, Xiaole Sun, Igor P. Semiletov, and Vladimir A. Samarkin
Biogeosciences, 15, 471–490, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-471-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-471-2018, 2018
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We determined the aerobic and anaerobic degradation rates of land- and marine-derived organic material in East Siberian shelf sediment. Marine plankton-derived organic carbon was the main source for the oxic dissolved carbon dioxide production, whereas terrestrial organic material significantly contributed to the production of carbon dioxide under anoxic conditions. Our direct degradation rate measurements provide new constraints for the present-day Arctic marine carbon budget.
Jack J. Middelburg
Biogeosciences, 15, 413–427, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-413-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-413-2018, 2018
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Organic carbon processing at the seafloor is studied by geologists to better understand the sedimentary record, by biogeochemists to quantify burial and respiration, by organic geochemists to elucidate compositional changes, and by ecologists to follow carbon transfers within food webs. These disciplinary approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. This award talk provides a synthesis, highlights the role of animals in sediment carbon processing and presents some new concepts.
Craig Smeaton, William E. N. Austin, Althea L. Davies, Agnes Baltzer, John A. Howe, and John M. Baxter
Biogeosciences, 14, 5663–5674, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5663-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5663-2017, 2017
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Fjord sediments are recognised as hotspots for the burial and long-term storage of carbon. In this study, we use the Scottish fjords as a natural laboratory. Using geophysical and geochemical analysis in combination with upscaling techniques, we have generated the first full national sedimentary C inventory for a fjordic system. The results indicate that the Scottish fjords on a like-for-like basis are more effective as C stores than their terrestrial counterparts, including Scottish peatlands.
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Short summary
Climatic warming is affecting permafrost, including decomposition of organic matter (OM). However, quantitative data for the quality of OM and its availability for decomposition is limited. We analyzed the quality of OM in late Pleistocene (Yedoma) and Holocene (thermokarst) deposits. A lack of depth trends reveals a constant quality of OM showing that permafrost acts like a freezer, preserving OM quality. This OM will be susceptible to decomposition under climatic warming.
Climatic warming is affecting permafrost, including decomposition of organic matter (OM)....
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