Articolo in rivista, 2016, ENG, 10.1038/ncomms13653

Massive remobilization of permafrost carbon during post-glacial warming

Tesi T.; Muschitiello F.; Smittenberg R.H.; Jakobsson M.; Vonk J.E.; Hill P.; Andersson A.; Kirchner N.; Noormets R.; Dudarev O.; Semiletov I.; Gustafsson O.

Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius vag 8, Stockholm, SE-11418, Sweden; Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden; Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council (ISMAR-CNR), Via Piero Gobetti 101, Bologna, 40129, Italy; Lamont-Doehrty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, 61 Route 9W-PO Box 1000, Palisades, NY, 10964-8000, United States; Uni Research Climate, Nygårdsgaten 112, Bergen, 5008, Norway; Department of Geological Sciences (IGV), Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius vag 8, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden; University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), P O Box 156, Longyearbyen, N-9171, Norway; Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, HV Amsterdam, 1081, Netherlands; Department of Physical Geography (NG), Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden; Pacific Oceanological Institute FEB RAS, Baltic Street, Vladivostok, 690041, Russian Federation; Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lenina Prospect, Tomsk, 634050, Russian Federation; University of Alaska Fairbanks, Koyukuk Drive, Fairbanks, AL, 99775-7340, United States

Recent hypotheses, based on atmospheric records and models, suggest that permafrost carbon (PF-C) accumulated during the last glaciation may have been an important source for the atmospheric CO2 rise during post-glacial warming. However, direct physical indications for such PF-C release have so far been absent. Here we use the Laptev Sea (Arctic Ocean) as an archive to investigate PF-C destabilization during the last glacial-interglacial period. Our results show evidence for massive supply of PF-C from Siberian soils as a result of severe active layer deepening in response to the warming. Thawing of PF-C must also have brought about an enhanced organic matter respiration and, thus, these findings suggest that PF-C may indeed have been an important source of CO2 across the extensive permafrost domain. The results challenge current paradigms on the post-glacial CO2 rise and, at the same time, serve as a harbinger for possible consequences of the present-day warming of PF-C soils.

Nature communications 7

Keywords

LAPTEV SEA SHELF; PARTICULATE ORGANIC-MATTER; LAST GLACIAL TERMINATION; ADJACENT NEARSHORE ZONE; GREENLAND STADIAL 1; LENA RIVER DELTA; INTERIOR ALASKA; YOUNGER DRYAS; ARCTIC-OCEAN; NE SIBERIA

CNR authors

Tesi Tommaso

CNR institutes

ISMAR – Istituto di scienze marine