Articles | Volume 19, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1211-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1211-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
28 Feb 2022
Research article |
| 28 Feb 2022
| 28 Feb 2022
Age and chemistry of dissolved organic carbon reveal enhanced leaching of ancient labile carbon at the permafrost thaw zone
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
Heather M. Throckmorton
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
currently at: Agilent Technologies, Lexington, MA 02421, USA
Jeffrey M. Heikoop
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
Brent D. Newman
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
Alexandra L. Hedgpeth
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095,
USA
Marisa N. Repasch
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
Thomas P. Guilderson
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
currently at: University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Cathy J. Wilson
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
retired
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Short summary
Planetary warming is increasing seasonal thaw of permafrost, making this extensive old carbon stock vulnerable. In northern Alaska, we found more and older dissolved organic carbon in small drainages later in summer as more permafrost was exposed by deepening thaw. Younger and older carbon did not differ in chemical indicators related to biological lability suggesting this carbon can cycle through aquatic systems and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions as warming increases permafrost thaw.
Planetary warming is increasing seasonal thaw of permafrost, making this extensive old carbon...
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