Long-term CO2 production following permafrost thaw

Bo Elberling; Anders Michelsen; Christina Schädel; Edward A.G. Schuur; Hanne H. Christiansen; Louise Berg; Mikkel P. Tamstorf; Charlotte Sigsgaard

doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE1955

Long-term CO₂ production following permafrost thaw

Bo Elberling, Anders Michelsen, Christina Schädel, Edward A.G. Schuur, Hanne H. Christiansen, Louise Berg, Mikkel P. Tamstorf, Charlotte Sigsgaard

130 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Thawing permafrost represents a poorly understood feedback mechanism of climate change in the Arctic, but with a potential impact owing to stored carbon being mobilized. We have quantified the long-term loss of carbon (C) from thawing permafrost in Northeast Greenland from 1996 to 2008 by combining repeated sediment sampling to assess changes in C stock and >12 years of CO₂ production in incubated permafrost samples. Field observations show that the active-layer thickness has increased by >1 cm yr -1 but thawing has not resulted in a detectable decline in C stocks. Laboratory mineralization rates at 5°C resulted in a C loss between 9 and 75%, depending on drainage, highlighting the potential of fast mobilization of permafrost C under aerobic conditions, but also that C at near-saturated conditions may remain largely immobilized over decades. This is confirmed by a three-pool C dynamics model that projects a potential C loss between 13 and 77% for 50 years of incubation at 5°C.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Climate Change
Volume	3
Pages (from-to)	890-894
Number of pages	5
ISSN	1758-678X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE1955
Publication status	Published - Oct 2013

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Cite this

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title = "Long-term CO2 production following permafrost thaw",

abstract = "Thawing permafrost represents a poorly understood feedback mechanism of climate change in the Arctic, but with a potential impact owing to stored carbon being mobilized. We have quantified the long-term loss of carbon (C) from thawing permafrost in Northeast Greenland from 1996 to 2008 by combining repeated sediment sampling to assess changes in C stock and >12 years of CO2 production in incubated permafrost samples. Field observations show that the active-layer thickness has increased by >1 cm yr -1 but thawing has not resulted in a detectable decline in C stocks. Laboratory mineralization rates at 5°C resulted in a C loss between 9 and 75%, depending on drainage, highlighting the potential of fast mobilization of permafrost C under aerobic conditions, but also that C at near-saturated conditions may remain largely immobilized over decades. This is confirmed by a three-pool C dynamics model that projects a potential C loss between 13 and 77% for 50 years of incubation at 5°C.",

author = "Bo Elberling and Anders Michelsen and Christina Sch{\"a}del and Schuur, {Edward A.G.} and Christiansen, {Hanne H.} and Louise Berg and Tamstorf, {Mikkel P.} and Charlotte Sigsgaard",

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AU - Elberling, Bo

AU - Michelsen, Anders

AU - Schädel, Christina

AU - Schuur, Edward A.G.

AU - Christiansen, Hanne H.

AU - Berg, Louise

AU - Tamstorf, Mikkel P.

AU - Sigsgaard, Charlotte

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N2 - Thawing permafrost represents a poorly understood feedback mechanism of climate change in the Arctic, but with a potential impact owing to stored carbon being mobilized. We have quantified the long-term loss of carbon (C) from thawing permafrost in Northeast Greenland from 1996 to 2008 by combining repeated sediment sampling to assess changes in C stock and >12 years of CO2 production in incubated permafrost samples. Field observations show that the active-layer thickness has increased by >1 cm yr -1 but thawing has not resulted in a detectable decline in C stocks. Laboratory mineralization rates at 5°C resulted in a C loss between 9 and 75%, depending on drainage, highlighting the potential of fast mobilization of permafrost C under aerobic conditions, but also that C at near-saturated conditions may remain largely immobilized over decades. This is confirmed by a three-pool C dynamics model that projects a potential C loss between 13 and 77% for 50 years of incubation at 5°C.

AB - Thawing permafrost represents a poorly understood feedback mechanism of climate change in the Arctic, but with a potential impact owing to stored carbon being mobilized. We have quantified the long-term loss of carbon (C) from thawing permafrost in Northeast Greenland from 1996 to 2008 by combining repeated sediment sampling to assess changes in C stock and >12 years of CO2 production in incubated permafrost samples. Field observations show that the active-layer thickness has increased by >1 cm yr -1 but thawing has not resulted in a detectable decline in C stocks. Laboratory mineralization rates at 5°C resulted in a C loss between 9 and 75%, depending on drainage, highlighting the potential of fast mobilization of permafrost C under aerobic conditions, but also that C at near-saturated conditions may remain largely immobilized over decades. This is confirmed by a three-pool C dynamics model that projects a potential C loss between 13 and 77% for 50 years of incubation at 5°C.

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