Organic carbon burial by river meandering partially offsets bank erosion carbon fluxes in a discontinuous permafrost floodplain

Douglas, Madison M.; Li, Gen K.; Fischer, Woodward W.; Rowland, Joel C.; Kemeny, Preston C.; West, A. Joshua; Schwenk, Jon; Piliouras, Anastasia P.; Chadwick, Austin J.; Lamb, Michael P.

doi:10.5194/esurf-10-421-2022

Organic carbon burial by river meandering partially offsets bank erosion carbon fluxes in a discontinuous permafrost floodplain

Journal Article · Tue May 10 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Earth Surface Dynamics (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-421-2022· OSTI ID:1867074

; ; Fischer, Woodward W.; Rowland, Joel C.; Kemeny, Preston C.; ; Schwenk, Jon; Piliouras, Anastasia P.; Chadwick, Austin J.; Lamb, Michael P.

Abstract. Arctic river systems erode permafrost in their banks and mobilize particulate organic carbon (OC). Meandering rivers can entrain particulate OC from permafrost many meters below the depth of annual thaw, potentially enabling the production of greenhouse gases. However, the amount and fate of permafrost OC that is mobilized by river erosion is uncertain. To constrain OC fluxes due to riverbank erosion and deposition, we collected riverbank and floodplain sediment samples along the Koyukuk River, which meanders through discontinuous permafrost in the Yukon River watershed, Alaska, USA, with an average migration rate of 0.52 m yr−1. We measured sediment total OC (TOC) content, radiocarbon activity, water content, bulk density, grain size, and floodplain stratigraphy. Radiocarbon activity and TOC content were higher in samples dominated by silt as compared to sand, which we used to map OC content onto floodplain stratigraphy and estimate carbon fluxes due to river meandering. Results showed that the Koyukuk River erodes and re-deposits a substantial flux of OC each year due to its depth and high migration rate, generating a combined OC flux of a similar magnitude to the floodplain net ecological productivity. However, sediment being eroded from cutbanks and deposited as point bars had similar OC stocks (mean ± 1 SD of 125.3±13.1 kg OC m−2 in cutbanks versus 114.0±15.7 kg OC m−2 in point bars) whether or not the banks contained permafrost. We also observed radiocarbon-depleted biospheric OC in both cutbanks and permafrost-free point bars. These results indicate that a substantial fraction of aged biospheric OC that is liberated from floodplains by bank erosion is subsequently re-deposited in point bars rather than being oxidized. The process of aging, erosion, and re-deposition of floodplain organic material may be intrinsic to river–floodplain dynamics, regardless of permafrost content.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Caltech Terrestrial Hazards Observation and Reporting Center; Fannie and John Hertz Foundation; Foster and Coco Stanback; National Science Foundations (NSF); Resnick Sustainability Institute; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division; the Linde Family

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1867074

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1869628

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-22-22610

Journal Information:: Earth Surface Dynamics (Online), Journal Name: Earth Surface Dynamics (Online) Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 10; ISSN 2196-632X

Publisher:: Copernicus GmbHCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Germany

Language:: English

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