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Title: Large uncertainty in permafrost carbon stocks due to hillslope soil deposits

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073823· OSTI ID:1389639
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [5]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
  4. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  5. Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Here, northern circumpolar permafrost soils contain more than a third of the global soil organic carbon pool (SOC). The sensitivity of this carbon pool to a changing climate is a primary source of uncertainty in simulation–based climate projections. These projections, however, do not account for the accumulation of soil deposits at the base of hillslopes (hill toes) and the influence of this accumulation on the distribution, sequestration, and decomposition of SOC in landscapes affected by permafrost. Here we combine topographic models with soil profile data and topographic analysis to evaluate the quantity and uncertainty of SOC mass stored in perennially frozen hill toe soil deposits. We show that in Alaska this SOC mass introduces an uncertainty that is >200% the state–wide estimates of SOC stocks (77 Pg C) and that a similarly large uncertainty may also pertain at a circumpolar scale. Soil sampling and geophysical imaging efforts that target hill toe deposits can help constrain this large uncertainty.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC). Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1389639
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1481148
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-21042; 136148
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 12; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Microbial Organic Matter Utilization in High-Arctic Streams: Key Enzymatic Controls journal February 2019
Land cover and landform-based upscaling of soil organic carbon stocks on the Brøgger Peninsula, Svalbard journal January 2019

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
hillslope
soil-Carbon
permafrost
soil-transport
Earth Sciences