Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea

Birgit Wild; Natalia Shakhova; Oleg Dudarev; Alexey Ruban; Denis Kosmach; Vladimir Tumskoy; Tommaso Tesi; Hanna Grimm; Inna Nybom; Felipe Matsubara; Helena Alexanderson; Martin Jakobsson; Alexey Mazurov; Igor Semiletov; Örjan Gustafsson

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32696-0

Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea

Birgit Wild, Natalia Shakhova, Oleg Dudarev, Alexey Ruban, Denis Kosmach, Vladimir Tumskoy, Tommaso Tesi, Hanna Grimm, Inna Nybom, Felipe Matsubara, Helena Alexanderson, Martin Jakobsson, Alexey Mazurov, Igor Semiletov, Örjan Gustafsson

Quaternary Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Subsea permafrost represents a large carbon pool that might be or become a significant greenhouse gas source. Scarcity of observational data causes large uncertainties. We here use five 21-56 m long subsea permafrost cores from the Laptev Sea to constrain organic carbon (OC) storage and sources, degradation state and potential greenhouse gas production upon thaw. Grain sizes, optically-stimulated luminescence and biomarkers suggest deposition of aeolian silt and fluvial sand over 160 000 years, with dominant fluvial/alluvial deposition of forest- and tundra-derived organic matter. We estimate an annual thaw rate of 1.3 ± 0.6 kg OC m⁻² in subsea permafrost in the area, nine-fold exceeding organic carbon thaw rates for terrestrial permafrost. During 20-month incubations, CH₄ and CO₂ production averaged 1.7 nmol and 2.4 µmol g⁻¹ OC d⁻¹, providing a baseline to assess the contribution of subsea permafrost to the high CH₄ fluxes and strong ocean acidification observed in the region.

Original language	English
Article number	5057
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32696-0
Publication status	Published - 2022

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Geochemistry

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This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41467-022-32696-0

Lund Luminescence Laboratory for Dating
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Wild, B., Shakhova, N., Dudarev, O., Ruban, A., Kosmach, D., Tumskoy, V., Tesi, T., Grimm, H., Nybom, I., Matsubara, F., Alexanderson, H., Jakobsson, M., Mazurov, A., Semiletov, I., & Gustafsson, Ö. (2022). Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 5057. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32696-0

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title = "Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea",

abstract = "Subsea permafrost represents a large carbon pool that might be or become a significant greenhouse gas source. Scarcity of observational data causes large uncertainties. We here use five 21-56 m long subsea permafrost cores from the Laptev Sea to constrain organic carbon (OC) storage and sources, degradation state and potential greenhouse gas production upon thaw. Grain sizes, optically-stimulated luminescence and biomarkers suggest deposition of aeolian silt and fluvial sand over 160 000 years, with dominant fluvial/alluvial deposition of forest- and tundra-derived organic matter. We estimate an annual thaw rate of 1.3 ± 0.6 kg OC m−2 in subsea permafrost in the area, nine-fold exceeding organic carbon thaw rates for terrestrial permafrost. During 20-month incubations, CH4 and CO2 production averaged 1.7 nmol and 2.4 µmol g−1 OC d−1, providing a baseline to assess the contribution of subsea permafrost to the high CH4 fluxes and strong ocean acidification observed in the region.",

author = "Birgit Wild and Natalia Shakhova and Oleg Dudarev and Alexey Ruban and Denis Kosmach and Vladimir Tumskoy and Tommaso Tesi and Hanna Grimm and Inna Nybom and Felipe Matsubara and Helena Alexanderson and Martin Jakobsson and Alexey Mazurov and Igor Semiletov and {\"O}rjan Gustafsson",

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Wild, B, Shakhova, N, Dudarev, O, Ruban, A, Kosmach, D, Tumskoy, V, Tesi, T, Grimm, H, Nybom, I, Matsubara, F, Alexanderson, H, Jakobsson, M, Mazurov, A, Semiletov, I & Gustafsson, Ö 2022, 'Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea', Nature Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, 5057. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32696-0

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T1 - Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea

AU - Wild, Birgit

AU - Shakhova, Natalia

AU - Dudarev, Oleg

AU - Ruban, Alexey

AU - Kosmach, Denis

AU - Tumskoy, Vladimir

AU - Tesi, Tommaso

AU - Grimm, Hanna

AU - Nybom, Inna

AU - Matsubara, Felipe

AU - Alexanderson, Helena

AU - Jakobsson, Martin

AU - Mazurov, Alexey

AU - Semiletov, Igor

AU - Gustafsson, Örjan

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Subsea permafrost represents a large carbon pool that might be or become a significant greenhouse gas source. Scarcity of observational data causes large uncertainties. We here use five 21-56 m long subsea permafrost cores from the Laptev Sea to constrain organic carbon (OC) storage and sources, degradation state and potential greenhouse gas production upon thaw. Grain sizes, optically-stimulated luminescence and biomarkers suggest deposition of aeolian silt and fluvial sand over 160 000 years, with dominant fluvial/alluvial deposition of forest- and tundra-derived organic matter. We estimate an annual thaw rate of 1.3 ± 0.6 kg OC m−2 in subsea permafrost in the area, nine-fold exceeding organic carbon thaw rates for terrestrial permafrost. During 20-month incubations, CH4 and CO2 production averaged 1.7 nmol and 2.4 µmol g−1 OC d−1, providing a baseline to assess the contribution of subsea permafrost to the high CH4 fluxes and strong ocean acidification observed in the region.

AB - Subsea permafrost represents a large carbon pool that might be or become a significant greenhouse gas source. Scarcity of observational data causes large uncertainties. We here use five 21-56 m long subsea permafrost cores from the Laptev Sea to constrain organic carbon (OC) storage and sources, degradation state and potential greenhouse gas production upon thaw. Grain sizes, optically-stimulated luminescence and biomarkers suggest deposition of aeolian silt and fluvial sand over 160 000 years, with dominant fluvial/alluvial deposition of forest- and tundra-derived organic matter. We estimate an annual thaw rate of 1.3 ± 0.6 kg OC m−2 in subsea permafrost in the area, nine-fold exceeding organic carbon thaw rates for terrestrial permafrost. During 20-month incubations, CH4 and CO2 production averaged 1.7 nmol and 2.4 µmol g−1 OC d−1, providing a baseline to assess the contribution of subsea permafrost to the high CH4 fluxes and strong ocean acidification observed in the region.

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DO - 10.1038/s41467-022-32696-0

M3 - Article

C2 - 36030269

AN - SCOPUS:85137134627

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 13

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 5057

ER -

Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea

Abstract

Subject classification (UKÄ)

UN SDGs

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