Sub-Surface Carbon Stocks in Northern Taiga Landscapes Exposed in the Batagay Megaslump, Yana Upland, Yakutia

Andrei G. Shepelev, Alexander Kizyakov, Sebastian Wetterich, Alexandra Cherepanova, Alexander Fedorov, Igor Syromyatnikov and Grigoriy Savvinov
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Andrei G. Shepelev: Laboratory of Permafrost Landscapes, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Alexander Kizyakov: Cryolithology and Glaciology Department, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Sebastian Wetterich: Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Alexandra Cherepanova: Laboratory of General Geocryology, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Alexander Fedorov: Laboratory of Permafrost Landscapes, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Igor Syromyatnikov: Laboratory of General Geocryology, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Grigoriy Savvinov: Science Research Institute of Applied Ecology of the North, North-East Federal University, 43 Lenin Avenue, 677007 Yakutsk, Russia

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: The most massive and fast-eroding thaw slump of the Northern Hemisphere located in the Yana Uplands of Northern Yakutia was investigated to assess in detail the cryogenic inventory and carbon pools of two distinctive Ice Complex stratigraphic units and the uppermost cover deposits. Differentiating into modern and Holocene near-surface layers (active layer and shielding layer), highest total carbon contents were found in the active layer (18.72 kg m −2 ), while the shielding layer yielded a much lower carbon content of 1.81 kg m −2 . The late Pleistocene upper Ice Complex contained 10.34 kg m −2 total carbon, and the mid-Pleistocene lower Ice Complex 17.66 kg m −2 . The proportion of organic carbon from total carbon content is well above 70% in all studied units with 94% in the active layer, 73% in the shielding layer, 83% in the upper Ice Complex and 79% in the lower Ice Complex. Inorganic carbon is low in the overall structure of the deposits.

Keywords: ice complex; yedoma; organic carbon; inorganic carbon; total carbon; batagay megaslump; Northern Yakutia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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