Numerical Assessments of Excess Ice Impacts on Permafrost and Greenhouse Gases in a Siberian Tundra Site Under a Warming Climate

Excess ice that exists in forms such as ice lenses and wedges in permafrost soils is vulnerable to climate warming. Here, we incorporated a simple representation of excess ice in a coupled hydrological and biogeochemical model (CHANGE) to assess how excess ice affects permafrost thaw and associated hydrologic responses, and possible impacts on carbon dioxide and methane (CH4) fluxes. The model was used to simulate a moss-covered tundra site in northeastern Siberia with various vertical initializations of excess ice under a future warming climate scenario. Simulations revealed that the warming climate induced deepening of the active layer thickness (ALT) and higher vegetation productivity and heterotrophic respiration from permafrost soil. Meanwhile, excess ice temporarily constrained ALT deepening and thermally stabilized permafrost because of the highest latent heat effect obtained under these conditions. These effects were large under conditions of high excess ice content distributed in deeper soil layers, especially when covered by moss and thinner snow. Once ALT reached to the layer of excess ice, it was abruptly melted, leading to ground surface subsidence over 15–20 years. The excess ice meltwater caused deeper soil to wet and contributed to talik formation. The anaerobic wet condition was effective to high CH4 emissions. However, as the excess ice meltwater was connected to the subsurface flow, the resultant lower water table limited the CH4 efflux. These results provide insights for interactions between warming climate, permafrost excess ice, and carbon and CH4 fluxes in well-drained conditions.

Analysis of the causes of engineering structures deformations at gas industry facilities in the permafrost zone

Construction of oil and gas infrastructure facilities on permafrost soils is the most important task of increasing the raw material base of the entire fuel and energy industry in Russia. Permafrost soil is a complex, multicomponent system, state of which depends on many factors. Buildings and structures built under such conditions, on the one hand, have a complex thermal effect on permafrost soils, and on the other hand, they perceive the consequences of changes in the characteristics of such soils. This situation leads to the fact that buildings and structures on permafrost soil during their life cycle are subject to complex and poorly predictable deformations. Article presents the results of a study for various degradation processes of permafrost soils that can be implemented at construction sites of industrial facilities. Analysis of the deformations causes for engineering structures at the gas industry in the permafrost zone is carried out. Series of reasons causing such deformations have been investigated. Comprehensive criterion for assessing changes in permafrost-geological conditions of industrial sites is proposed. It is suggested to apply the method of calculating the individual characteristics for the temperature regime of the territory to monitor and assess the conditions of heat exchange and predict changes in the geocryological conditions of permafrost soil.

Large Herbivores Affecting Permafrost – Impacts of Grazing on Permafrost Soil Carbon Storage in Northeastern Siberia

The risk of carbon emissions from permafrost ground is linked to ground temperature and thus in particular to thermal insulation by vegetation and organic soil layers in summer and snow cover in winter. This ground insulation is strongly influenced by the presence of large herbivorous animals browsing for food. In this study, we examine the potential impact of large herbivore presence on the ground carbon storage in thermokarst landscapes of northeastern Siberia. Our aim is to understand how intensive animal grazing may affect permafrost thaw and hence organic matter decomposition, leading to different ground carbon storage, which is significant in the active layer. Therefore, we analysed sites with differing large herbivore grazing intensity in the Pleistocene Park near Chersky and measured maximum thaw depth, total organic carbon content and decomposition state by δ13C isotope analysis. In addition, we determined sediment grain size composition as well as ice and water content. We found the thaw depth to be shallower and carbon storage to be higher in intensively grazed areas compared to extensively and non-grazed sites in the same thermokarst basin. The intensive grazing presumably leads to a more stable thermal ground regime and thus to increased carbon storage in the thermokarst deposits and active layer. However, the high carbon content found within the upper 20 cm on intensively grazed sites could also indicate higher carbon input rather than reduced decomposition, which requires further studies. We connect our findings to more animal trampling in winter, which causes snow disturbance and cooler winter ground temperatures during the average annual 225 days below freezing. This winter cooling overcompensates ground warming due to the lower insulation associated with shorter heavily grazed vegetation during the average annual 140 thaw days. We conclude that intensive grazing influences the carbon storage capacities of permafrost areas and hence might be an actively manageable instrument to reduce net carbon emission from these sites.

Engineering of Thermal Stability in a Cold-Active Oligo-1,6-Glucosidase from Exiguobacterium sibiricum with Unusual Amino Acid Content

A gene coding for a novel putative amylase, oligo-1,6-glucosidase from a psychrotrophic bacterium Exiguobacterium sibiricum from Siberian permafrost soil was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The amino acid sequence of the predicted protein EsOgl and its 3D model displayed several features characteristic for the cold-active enzymes while possessing an unusually high number of proline residues in the loops—a typical feature of thermophilic enzymes. The activity of the purified recombinant protein was tested with p-nitrophenyl α-D-glucopyranoside as a substrate. The enzyme displayed a plateau-shaped temperature-activity profile with the optimum at 25 °C and a pronounced activity at low temperatures (50% of maximum activity at 5 °C). To improve the thermal stability at temperatures above 40 °C, we have introduced proline residues into four positions of EsOgl by site-directed mutagenesis according to “the proline rule”. Two of the mutants, S130P and A109P demonstrated a three- and two-fold increased half-life at 45 °C. Moreover, S130P mutation led to a 60% increase in the catalytic rate constant. Combining the mutations resulted in a further increase in stability transforming the temperature-activity profile to a typical mesophilic pattern. In the most thermostable variant A109P/S130P/E176P, the half-life at 45 °C was increased from 11 min (wild-type) to 129 min.

Cryoturbation leads to iron-organic carbon associations along a permafrost soil chronosequence in northern Alaska

In permafrost soils, substantial amounts of organic carbon (OC) are potentially protected from microbial degradation and transformation into greenhouse gases by association with reactive iron (Fe) minerals. As permafrost environments respond to climate change, increased drainage of thaw lakes in permafrost regions is predicted. Soils will subsequently develop on these drained thaw lakes, but the role of Fe-OC associations in future OC stabilization during this predicted soil development is unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, we have examined Fe-OC associations in organic, cryoturbated and mineral horizons along a 5500-year chronosequence of drained thaw lake basins in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. By applying chemical extractions, we found that ~17 % of the total OC content in cryoturbated horizons is associated with reactive Fe minerals, compared to ~10 % in organic or mineral horizons. As soil development advances, the total stocks of Fe-associated OC more than double within the first 50 years after thaw lake drainage, because of increased storage of Fe-associated OC in cryoturbated horizons (from 8 to 75 % of the total Fe-associated OC stock). Spatially-resolved nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry showed that OC is primarily associated with Fe(III) (oxyhydr)oxides which were identified by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy as ferrihydrite. High OC:Fe mass ratios (>0.22) indicate that Fe-OC associations are formed via co-precipitation, chelation and aggregation. These results demonstrate that, given the proposed enhanced drainage of thaw lakes under climate change, OC is increasingly incorporated and stabilized by the association with reactive Fe minerals as a result of soil formation and increased cryoturbation.

Selection of sunflower and its mixtures on the permafrost soil of Central Yakutia

Relevance. For the development of the main branch of agriculture in Yakutia — animal husbandry, one of the most pressing problems is the availability of feed. The article presents the results of research conducted at the Yakut Research Institute of Agriculture.Methods. Scientific research on the selection of sunflower mixtures with promising forage crops was carried out at site 30 “A“(on the basis of the laboratory of feed production of the YANIISKH) on the second over-floodplain terrace of the Lena River in 2018-2019.Results. The results of research on the growth and development of forage crops, the formation of yield, chemical composition and nutritional value of sunflower and its mixtures with promising annual crops are presented. High indicators for the development and yield of the tested crops were provided by sunflower mixed with corn 42.7 t/ha of green mass and sunflower mixed with Sudan grass 40.2 t/ha of green mass. The terms of sowing and harvesting of sunflower and its mixtures on permafrost soils are determined — sowing — the first decade of June, harvesting-the second decade of August before early-autumn frosts in the phase of mass flowering and throwing out panicles of the tested forage crops.

Selection of sunflower and its mixtures on the permafrost soil of Central Yakutia

Relevance. For the development of the main branch of agriculture in Yakutia — animal husbandry, one of the most pressing problems is the availability of feed. The article presents the results of research conducted at the Yakut Research Institute of Agriculture. Methods. Scientific research on the selection of sunflower mixtures with promising forage crops was carried out at site 30 “A“(on the basis of the laboratory of feed production of the YANIISKH) on the second over-floodplain terrace of the Lena River in 2018-2019.Results. The results of research on the growth and development of forage crops, the formation of yield, chemical composition and nutritional value of sunflower and its mixtures with promising annual crops are presented. High indicators for thedevelopment and yield of the tested crops were provided by sunflower mixed with corn 42.7 t/ha of green mass and sunflower mixed with Sudan grass 40.2 t/ha of green mass. The terms of sowing and harvesting of sunflower and its mixtures on permafrost soils are determined — sowing — the first decade of June, harvesting-the second decadeof August before early-autumn frosts in the phase of mass flowering and throwing out panicles of the tested forage crops.