Massive remobilization of permafrost carbon during post-glacial warming.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27897191.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13653 and PMC identifier 5141343.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
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 CO<sub>2</sub> 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 CO<sub>2</sub> across the extensive permafrost domain. The results challenge current paradigms on the post-glacial CO<sub>2</sub> rise and, at the same time, serve as a harbinger for possible consequences of the present-day warming of PF-C soils.