Massive remobilization of permafrost carbon during post-glacial warming

T. Tesi (), F. Muschitiello, R. H. Smittenberg, M. Jakobsson, J. E. Vonk, P. Hill, A. Andersson, N. Kirchner, R. Noormets, O. Dudarev, I. Semiletov and Ö Gustafsson
Additional contact information
T. Tesi: Stockholm University
F. Muschitiello: Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University
R. H. Smittenberg: Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University
M. Jakobsson: Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University
J. E. Vonk: Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam
P. Hill: University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS)
A. Andersson: Stockholm University
N. Kirchner: Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University
R. Noormets: University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS)
O. Dudarev: Pacific Oceanological Institute FEB RAS
I. Semiletov: Pacific Oceanological Institute FEB RAS
Ö Gustafsson: Stockholm University

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Recent hypotheses, based on atmospheric records and models, suggest that permafrost carbon (PF-C) accumulated during the last glaciation may have been an important source for the atmospheric CO2 rise during post-glacial warming. However, direct physical indications for such PF-C release have so far been absent. Here we use the Laptev Sea (Arctic Ocean) as an archive to investigate PF-C destabilization during the last glacial–interglacial period. Our results show evidence for massive supply of PF-C from Siberian soils as a result of severe active layer deepening in response to the warming. Thawing of PF-C must also have brought about an enhanced organic matter respiration and, thus, these findings suggest that PF-C may indeed have been an important source of CO2 across the extensive permafrost domain. The results challenge current paradigms on the post-glacial CO2 rise and, at the same time, serve as a harbinger for possible consequences of the present-day warming of PF-C soils.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13653 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13653

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13653

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().