Articles | Volume 20, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-827-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-827-2023
Research article
 | 
21 Feb 2023
Research article |  | 21 Feb 2023

Recently fixed carbon fuels microbial activity several meters below the soil surface

Andrea Scheibe, Carlos A. Sierra, and Marie Spohn

Related authors

An information-theoretic approach to obtain ensemble averages from Earth system models
Carlos A. Sierra and Estefanía Muñoz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1640,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1640, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
The flask monitoring program for high-precision atmospheric measurements of greenhouse gases, stable isotopes, and radiocarbon in the central Amazon region
Carlos A. Sierra, Ingrid Chanca, Meinrat Andreae, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Hella van Asperen, Lars Borchardt, Santiago Botía, Luiz Antonio Candido, Caio S. C. Correa, Cléo Quaresma Dias-Junior, Markus Eritt, Annica Fröhlich, Luciana V. Gatti, Marcus Guderle, Samuel Hammer, Martin Heimann, Viviana Horna, Armin Jordan, Steffen Knabe, Richard Kneißl, Jost Valentin Lavric, Ingeborg Levin, Kita Macario, Juliana Menger, Heiko Moossen, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Michael Rothe, Christian Rödenbeck, Yago Santos, Axel Steinhof, Bruno Takeshi, Susan Trumbore, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-151,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-151, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
How long does carbon stay in a near-pristine central Amazon forest? An empirical estimate with radiocarbon
Ingrid Chanca, Ingeborg Levin, Susan Trumbore, Kita Macario, Jost Lavric, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Cléo Quaresma Dias Júnior, Hella van Asperen, Samuel Hammer, and Carlos A. Sierra
Biogeosciences, 22, 455–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025, 2025
Short summary
High capacity of integrated crop–pasture systems to preserve old soil carbon evaluated in a 60-year-old experiment
Maximiliano González-Sosa, Carlos A. Sierra, J. Andrés Quincke, Walter E. Baethgen, Susan Trumbore, and M. Virginia Pravia
SOIL, 10, 467–486, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-467-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-467-2024, 2024
Short summary
Moisture and temperature effects on the radiocarbon signature of respired carbon dioxide to assess stability of soil carbon in the Tibetan Plateau
Andrés Tangarife-Escobar, Georg Guggenberger, Xiaojuan Feng, Guohua Dai, Carolina Urbina-Malo, Mina Azizi-Rad, and Carlos A. Sierra
Biogeosciences, 21, 1277–1299, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1277-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1277-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Organic Biogeochemistry
Distribution of alkylamines in surface waters around the Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea
Arianna Rocchi, Mark F. Fitzsimons, Preston Akenga, Ana Sotomayor, Elisabet L. Sà, Queralt Güell-Bujons, Magda Vila, Yaiza M. Castillo, Manuel Dall’Osto, Dolors Vaqué, Charel Wohl, Rafel Simó, and Elisa Berdalet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-407,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-407, 2025
Short summary
Contrasting seasonal patterns in particle aggregation and dissolved organic matter transformation in a sub-Arctic fjord
Maria G. Digernes, Yasemin V. Bodur, Martí Amargant-Arumí, Oliver Müller, Jeffrey A. Hawkes, Stephen G. Kohler, Ulrike Dietrich, Marit Reigstad, and Maria L. Paulsen
Biogeosciences, 22, 601–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-601-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-601-2025, 2025
Short summary
Methods to characterize type, relevance, and interactions of organic matter and microorganisms in fluids along the flow path of a geothermal facility
Alessio Leins, Danaé Bregnard, Andrea Vieth-Hillebrand, Stefanie Poetz, Florian Eichinger, Guillaume Cailleau, Pilar Junier, and Simona Regenspurg
Biogeosciences, 21, 5457–5479, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5457-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5457-2024, 2024
Short summary
Microbial strong organic-ligand production is tightly coupled to iron in hydrothermal plumes
Colleen L. Hoffman, Patrick J. Monreal, Justine B. Albers, Alastair J. M. Lough, Alyson E. Santoro, Travis Mellett, Kristen N. Buck, Alessandro Tagliabue, Maeve C. Lohan, Joseph A. Resing, and Randelle M. Bundy
Biogeosciences, 21, 5233–5246, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5233-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5233-2024, 2024
Short summary
Ocean liming effects on dissolved organic matter dynamics
Chiara Santinelli, Silvia Valsecchi, Simona Retelletti Brogi, Giancarlo Bachi, Giovanni Checcucci, Mirco Guerrazzi, Elisa Camatti, Stefano Caserini, Arianna Azzellino, and Daniela Basso
Biogeosciences, 21, 5131–5141, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5131-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5131-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Akob, D. M. and Küsel, K.: Where microorganisms meet rocks in the Earth's Critical Zone, Biogeosciences, 8, 3531–3543, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-3531-2011, 2011. 
Badri, D. V. and Vivanco, J. M.: Regulation and function of root exudates, Plant Cell Environ., 32, 666–681, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2009.01926.x, 2009. 
Balesdent, J., Basile-Doelsch, I., Chadoeuf, J., Cornu, S., Derrien, D., Fekiacova, Z., and Hatté, C.: Atmosphere–soil carbon transfer as a function of soil depth, Nature, 559, 599–602, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0328-3, 2018. 
Berg, A. and Banwart, S. A.: Carbon dioxide mediated dissolution of Ca-feldspar: implications for silicate weathering, Chem. Geol., 163, 25–42, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(99)00132-1, 2000. 
Berner, R. A.: The rise of plants and their effect on weathering and atmospheric CO2, Science, 276, 544–546, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.276.5312.544, 1997. 
Download
Short summary
We explored carbon cycling in soils in three climate zones in Chile down to a depth of 6 m, using carbon isotopes. Our results show that microbial activity several meters below the soil surface is mostly fueled by recently fixed carbon and that strong decomposition of soil organic matter only occurs in the upper decimeters of the soils. The study shows that different layers of the critical zone are tightly connected and that processes in the deep soil depend on recently fixed carbon.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint