Substantial soil organic carbon retention along floodplains of mountain streams
Abstract
Small, snowmelt–dominated mountain streams have the potential to store substantial organic carbon in floodplain sediment because of high inputs of particulate organic matter, relatively lower temperatures compared with lowland regions, and potential for increased moisture conditions. This work (i) quantifies mean soil organic carbon (OC) content along 24 study reaches in the Colorado Rocky Mountains using 660 soil samples, (ii) identifies potential controls of OC content based on soil properties and spatial position with respect to the channel, and (iii) and examines soil properties and OC across various floodplain geomorphic features in the study area. Stepwise multiple linear regression (adjusted r2 = 0.48, p < 0.001) indicates that percentage of silt and clay, sample depth, percent sand, distance from the channel, and relative elevation from the channel are significant predictors of OC content in the study area. Principle component analysis indicates limited separation between geomorphic floodplain features based on predictors of OC content. A lack of significant differences among floodplain features suggests that the systematic random sampling employed in this study can capture the variability of OC across floodplains in the study area. Mean floodplain OC (6.3 ± 0.3%) is more variable but on average greater than values in uplandsmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2]
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- Universities/Institutions; USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1512762
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-17-22332
Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9003
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Earth Surface
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 122; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9003
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES; Earth Sciences; floodplain; soil carbon; mountain stream; riparian ecosystem; organic matter; carbon storage
Citation Formats
Sutfin, Nicholas Alan, and Wohl, Ellen. Substantial soil organic carbon retention along floodplains of mountain streams. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1002/2016JF004004.
Sutfin, Nicholas Alan, & Wohl, Ellen. Substantial soil organic carbon retention along floodplains of mountain streams. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF004004
Sutfin, Nicholas Alan, and Wohl, Ellen. Fri .
"Substantial soil organic carbon retention along floodplains of mountain streams". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF004004. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1512762.
@article{osti_1512762,
title = {Substantial soil organic carbon retention along floodplains of mountain streams},
author = {Sutfin, Nicholas Alan and Wohl, Ellen},
abstractNote = {Small, snowmelt–dominated mountain streams have the potential to store substantial organic carbon in floodplain sediment because of high inputs of particulate organic matter, relatively lower temperatures compared with lowland regions, and potential for increased moisture conditions. This work (i) quantifies mean soil organic carbon (OC) content along 24 study reaches in the Colorado Rocky Mountains using 660 soil samples, (ii) identifies potential controls of OC content based on soil properties and spatial position with respect to the channel, and (iii) and examines soil properties and OC across various floodplain geomorphic features in the study area. Stepwise multiple linear regression (adjusted r2 = 0.48, p < 0.001) indicates that percentage of silt and clay, sample depth, percent sand, distance from the channel, and relative elevation from the channel are significant predictors of OC content in the study area. Principle component analysis indicates limited separation between geomorphic floodplain features based on predictors of OC content. A lack of significant differences among floodplain features suggests that the systematic random sampling employed in this study can capture the variability of OC across floodplains in the study area. Mean floodplain OC (6.3 ± 0.3%) is more variable but on average greater than values in uplands (1.5 ± 0.08% to 2.2 ± 0.14%) of the Colorado Front Range and higher than published values from floodplains in other regions, particularly those of larger rivers.},
doi = {10.1002/2016JF004004},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Earth Surface},
number = 7,
volume = 122,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jun 23 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Fri Jun 23 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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Cited by: 22 works
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Figures / Tables:
Table 1: Basic statistics of eight variables for 660 soil samples from 24 study reaches
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Figures / Tables found in this record:
Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.