scholarly journals Carbon dynamics in boreal peatlands of the Yenisey region, western Siberia

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 7057-7070 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. D. Schulze ◽  
E. Lapshina ◽  
I. Filippov ◽  
I. Kuhlmann ◽  
D. Mollicone

Abstract. Here we investigate the vegetation history and peat accumulation at the eastern boarder of the West Siberian Plain, near the Yenisey River, south of permafrost. In this region, peat started to accumulate 15 000 years ago as gyttja of shallow lakes in ancient river valleys. This peat is older than previously reported, mainly due to separating particulate organic carbon (POC) from dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which was 1900–6500 years younger than POC. The probability of finding peat layers older than 12 000 years is about 2 %. Peat accumulated as fen peat at a constant rate of 0.2 mm yr−1 and 0.01 kg C m−2 yr−1. The accumulation was higher in ancient river valley environments. Over the last 2000 years these bogs changed into Sphagnum mires which have accumulated up to about 0.1 kg C m−2 yr−1 until present. The long-lasting fen stage, which makes the Yenisey bogs distinct from the western Siberian bogs, is discussed as a consequence of the local hydrology. The high accumulation rate of peat in unfrozen mires is taken as an indication that thawing of permafrost peat may also change northern peatlands into long-lasting carbon sinks.

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 11279-11311 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. D. Schulze ◽  
E. Lapshina ◽  
I. Filippov ◽  
I. Kuhlmann ◽  
D. Mollicone

Abstract. Here we investigate the vegetation history and peat accumulation at the eastern boarder of the West Siberian plain, near the river Yenisey, south of permafrost. In this region peat started to accumulate 15 000 yr ago as gyttia of shallow lakes in ancient river valleys. This peat is older than previously reported mainly due to separating particulate organic carbon (POC) from dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which was 1900 to 6500 yr younger than POC. The probability to finding peat layers older than 12 000 yr is about 2 %. Peat accumulated as fen-peat at a constant rate of 0.2 mm yr−1 and 0.01 kg C m2 yr−1. The accumulation was higher in ancient river valley environments. Since 2000 yr these bogs changed into Sphagnum mires which accumulate up to about 0.1 kg C m2 yr−1 until present. The long-lasting fen stage, which makes the Yenisey bogs distinct from the West Siberian bogs is discussed as a consequence of the local hydrology. The high accumulation rate of peat in un-frozen mires is taken as an indication that thawing of permafrost peat may change northern peatlands also into long-lasting carbon sinks.


2011 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanshan Cai ◽  
Zicheng Yu

AbstractStudying boreal-type peatlands near the edge of their southern limit can provide insight into responses of boreal and sub-arctic peatlands to warmer climates. In this study, we investigated peatland history using multi-proxy records of sediment composition, plant macrofossil, pollen, and diatom analysis from a 14C-dated sediment core at Tannersville Bog in northeastern Pennsylvania, USA. Our results indicate that peat accumulation began with lake infilling of a glacial lake at ~ 9 ka as a rich fen dominated by brown mosses. It changed to a poor fen dominated by Cyperaceae (sedges) and Sphagnum (peat mosses) at ~ 1.4 ka and to a Sphagnum-dominated poor fen at ~ 200 cal yr BP (~ AD 1750). Apparent carbon accumulation rates increased from 13.4 to 101.2 g C m− 2 yr− 1 during the last 8000 yr, with a time-averaged mean of 27.3 g C m− 2 yr− 1. This relatively high accumulation rate, compared to many northern peatlands, was likely caused by high primary production associated with a warmer and wetter temperate climate. This study implies that some northern peatlands can continue to serve as carbon sinks under a warmer and wetter climate, providing a negative feedback to climate warming.


The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 618-631
Author(s):  
Leeli Amon ◽  
Ansis Blaus ◽  
Tiiu Alliksaar ◽  
Atko Heinsalu ◽  
Elena Lapshina ◽  
...  

The hemispheric-scale climatic fluctuations during the Holocene have probably influenced the large Siberian rivers. However, detailed studies of the West Siberian Plain postglacial environmental change are scarce and the records of millennial-scale palaeohydrology are nearly absent. This paper presents the Holocene palaeoecological reconstruction based on the sedimentary record of Lake Svetlenkoye, located near the confluence of major Siberian rivers Ob and Irtysh. Postglacial history of flooding, dynamics of regional and local vegetation, sedimentation regime, geochemical changes and lake water pH were reconstructed based on multi-proxy studies. We used palaeobotanical (plant macrofossils, pollen, diatoms), geochemical (organic matter, total organic carbon and nitrogen content, carbon/nitrogen ratio) and chronological (14C dates, spheroidal fly-ash particle counts) methods. The studied sediment section started to accumulate ~11,400 cal. yr BP. The initial shallow water body was flooded by Ob River waters ~8100–8000 cal. yr BP as confirmed by a remarkable increase in the sedimentation rate and the accumulation rate of the aquatic vegetation proxies. The period of flooding coincides with the high humidity periods reconstructed from regional palaeobotanical records. About 6800–6700 cal. yr BP, the study site became isolated from the Ob River floodplain and remained a small lake until present. The diatom-based lake water pH estimates suggest fluctuations in the pH values during the Holocene, the recent decrease since 1960s being the most notable. The vegetation record revealed constant postglacial presence of tree taxa – Betula, Pinus and Picea – although in different pollen ratios and accumulation rates through time. The paludification of the surroundings occurred since ca. 8500 cal. yr BP.


2004 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 309-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
H. Jay Zwally

AbstractVapor-transfer theory is incorporated into a previous firn-densification model to investigate the effect of vapor-transfer processes on densification in firn within 10 m of the surface. The densification rate in the model is governed by the change of overburden pressure (determined by the accumulation rate), the firn temperature, and the temperature gradient. The time of exposure to temperature gradients at shallow depths is a critical factor determining the importance of vapor-transfer processes. In high-accumulation and high-temperature conditions such as for the Greenland ice sheet, the temperature gradient and vapor transfer are less important due to the shorter exposure times. The high summer temperatures dominate the rate of densification and annual variations in density. In low-accumulation and low-temperature conditions, such as for inland Antarctica, the vapor transfer driven by the temperature gradient has a stronger effect on the densification rate, and temperature-driven processes are less important. These factors determine both the rate of density increase with depth and the amplitudes of annual variations in density with depth.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgia Camperio ◽  
Caroline Welte ◽  
S. Nemiah Ladd ◽  
Matthew Prebble ◽  
Nathalie Dubois

<p>Espiritu Santo is one of the 82 islands of the archipelago of Vanuatu and is the largest, highest, and most biodiverse of the insular country. Climatic changes linked to El Niño and extreme events such as cyclones and volcanic eruptions are a daily challenge in this remote area. These events can be recorded in sedimentary archives. Here we present a multi-proxy investigation of sediment cores retrieved from two small lakes located on the West coast of Espiritu Santo. Although the records span the last millennium, high-resolution radiocarbon dating of macrofossils reveals a rapid accumulation of sediment in the past 100 years. The high accumulation rate coupled with the high-resolution dating of freshwater sediments allows us to compare the <sup>14</sup>C bomb curve with the biogeochemical proxies of the sedimentary records. The results can then be validated against written and oral historical records linked with the societal perception of recent environmental changes in this vulnerable ecosystem.</p><div> <div title="Translate selected text"></div> <div title="Play"></div> <div title="Copy text to Clipboard"></div> </div>


2004 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veijo Allan Pohjola ◽  
Jim Hedfors ◽  
Per Holmlund

AbstractHow well can we estimate the incoming ice flux by calculating the ice flux through a well-defined cross-section? We test this by comparing calculated ice flux out from the small glacier Bonnevie-Svendsenbreen with the measured accumulation rate integrated over the well-defined catchment area in the Sivorgfjella plateau, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica (74˚45’ S, 11˚10’ W). The ice flux is calculated using ice-dynamical properties from an ice temperature model and the distribution of forces calculated using a force-budget model. The input we use includes velocity data of the glacier surface, combined with ice-thickness measurements. The result is an accumulation rate on the Sivorgfjella plateau of 0.50 ± 0.05 mw.e. a–1. We find that this is similar to the accumulation rate recorded by ground-penetrating radar work in the area. We therefore find the balance-flow method, in combination with the force-budget technique and ice temperature modeling, to be a useful tool for studies of mass fluxes in a catchment area. The most important source of uncertainty in these calculations is the quality and the spatial distribution of the ice surface velocity data. The high accumulation rate shows the effect of orographic enhancement on accumulation in montane areas in Antarctica.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naohiko Ohkouchi ◽  
Timothy I Eglinton ◽  
John M Hayes

We have measured the radiocarbon contents of individual, solvent-extractable, short-chain (C14, C16, and C18) fatty acids isolated from Ross Sea surface sediments. The corresponding 14C ages are equivalent to that of the post-bomb dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) reservoir. Moreover, molecular 14C variations in surficial (upper 15 cm) sediments indicate that these compounds may prove useful for reconstructing chronologies of Antarctic margin sediments containing uncertain (and potentially variable) quantities of relict organic carbon. A preliminary molecular 14C chronology suggests that the accumulation rate of relict organic matter has not changed during the last 500 14C yr. The focus of this study is to determine the validity of compound-specific 14C analysis as a technique for reconstructing chronologies of Antarctic margin sediments.


1988 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Dahe ◽  
Neal W. Young ◽  
Richard J. Thwaites

Measurements of crystal size have been made on seven firn cores drilled at sites covering a range of mean annual temperature from –12.6° to –52.5°C and a range of accumulation rate from 52 to 315 kg m−2 a−1. The sorting coefficient, which gives a measure of the dispersion of crystal sizes within a sample, shows an overall pattern when data from all cores are grouped together as a function of depth. The values are generally small near the surface, increasing to a maximum around 8 m depth, then decreasing but becoming more diffuse at greater depths. Below about 5 m depth, the crystal size increases at an essentially constant rate, which depends on temperature, but in the upper 5 or 7 m the size increases at 1.5 to 2 times this rate. The seasonal variation in temperature enhances the effective mean growth rate of crystals in the near-surface layers compared to conditions with a constant mean temperature and accounts for a part of that increase. But it is likely that vapour diffusion along strong vertical temperature gradients causes the greater part of the observed increase in growth rate. The dependence of crystal-growth rate on temperature is consistent with the Arrhenius-type relation found by other studies.


1982 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 77-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. M. Doake

Data from ice rises on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula can be interpreted as showing that the ice is thinning at rates of up 0.5 m a−1. However, a level line between two nunataks in Palmer Land showed no change in surface elevation over a period of 5 a. Melt rates on George VI Ice Shelf vary with position and may indicate that parts of the ice shelf are thickening at the rate of several m a−1, presumably in response to a higher accumulation rate over the peninsula a few hundred years ago. A small valley glacier, Spartan Glacier, is wasting away at about 0.27 m a−1. Ice fronts on both east and west coasts of the peninsula have been retreating for the last 30 a. It seems that there is general glacier recession in response to a wanner climate and decreased snowfall for at least the last 30 a, while parts of the peninsula are still thickening in response to a high accumulation rate several hundred years ago.


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