Ice content, DOC storage and annual permafrost eroding in the Arctic Ocean

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Hauptverfasser: Tanski, George, Couture, Nicole, Lantuit, Hugues, Eulenburg, Antje, Fritz, Michael
Format: Dataset Open Access
Sprache:en
Veröffentlicht: PANGAEA 2016
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author Tanski, George
Couture, Nicole
Lantuit, Hugues
Eulenburg, Antje
Fritz, Michael
author_facet Tanski, George
Couture, Nicole
Lantuit, Hugues
Eulenburg, Antje
Fritz, Michael
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Ice-rich permafrost coasts in the Arctic are highly sensitive to climate warming and erode at a pace that exceeds the global average. Permafrost coasts deliver vast amounts of organic carbon into the nearshore zone of the Arctic Ocean. Numbers on flux exist for particulate organic carbon (POC) and total or soil organic carbon (TOC, SOC). However, they do not exist for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is known to be highly bioavailable. This study aims to estimate DOC stocks in coastal permafrost as well as the annual flux into the ocean. DOC concentrations in ground ice were analyzed along the ice-rich Yukon coast (YC) in the western Canadian Arctic. The annual DOC flux was estimated using available numbers for coast length, cliff height, annual erosion rate, and volumetric ice content in different stratigraphic horizons. Our results showed that DOC concentrations in ground ice range between 0.3 and 347.0 mg/l with an estimated stock of 13.6 ± 3.0 g/m**3 along the YC. An annual DOC flux of 54.9 ± 0.9 Mg/yr was computed. These DOC fluxes are low compared to POC and SOC fluxes from coastal erosion or POC and DOC fluxes from Arctic rivers. We conclude that DOC fluxes from permafrost coasts play a secondary role in the Arctic carbon budget. However, this DOC is assumed to be highly bioavailable. We hypothesize that DOC from coastal erosion is important for ecosystems in the Arctic nearshore zones, particularly in summer when river discharge is low, and in areas where rivers are absent.
format Dataset Open Access
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institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2016
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Ice content, DOC storage and annual permafrost eroding in the Arctic Ocean
Tanski, George
Couture, Nicole
Lantuit, Hugues
Eulenburg, Antje
Fritz, Michael
AWI_PerDyn; Permafrost Research (Periglacial Dynamics) @ AWI
Ice-rich permafrost coasts in the Arctic are highly sensitive to climate warming and erode at a pace that exceeds the global average. Permafrost coasts deliver vast amounts of organic carbon into the nearshore zone of the Arctic Ocean. Numbers on flux exist for particulate organic carbon (POC) and total or soil organic carbon (TOC, SOC). However, they do not exist for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is known to be highly bioavailable. This study aims to estimate DOC stocks in coastal permafrost as well as the annual flux into the ocean. DOC concentrations in ground ice were analyzed along the ice-rich Yukon coast (YC) in the western Canadian Arctic. The annual DOC flux was estimated using available numbers for coast length, cliff height, annual erosion rate, and volumetric ice content in different stratigraphic horizons. Our results showed that DOC concentrations in ground ice range between 0.3 and 347.0 mg/l with an estimated stock of 13.6 ± 3.0 g/m**3 along the YC. An annual DOC flux of 54.9 ± 0.9 Mg/yr was computed. These DOC fluxes are low compared to POC and SOC fluxes from coastal erosion or POC and DOC fluxes from Arctic rivers. We conclude that DOC fluxes from permafrost coasts play a secondary role in the Arctic carbon budget. However, this DOC is assumed to be highly bioavailable. We hypothesize that DOC from coastal erosion is important for ecosystems in the Arctic nearshore zones, particularly in summer when river discharge is low, and in areas where rivers are absent.
title Ice content, DOC storage and annual permafrost eroding in the Arctic Ocean
topic AWI_PerDyn; Permafrost Research (Periglacial Dynamics) @ AWI
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.868914