Abstract
Thawing of permafrost carbon (PF-C) due to climate warming can remobilise considerable amounts of terrestrial carbon from its long-term storage to the marine environment. PF-C can be then be buried in sediments or remineralised to CO2 with implications for the carbon-climate feedback. Studying historical sediment records during past natural climate changes can help us to understand the response of permafrost to current climate warming. In this study, two sediment cores collected from the East Siberian Sea were used to study terrestrial organic carbon sources, composition and degradation during the past g1/4 9500gyrs BP. CuO-derived lignin and cutin products (i.e., compounds solely biosynthesised in terrestrial plants) combined with 13C suggest that there was a higher input of terrestrial organic carbon to the East Siberian Sea between g1/4 9500 and 8200gyrs BP than in all later periods. This high input was likely caused by marine transgression and permafrost destabilisation in the early Holocene climatic optimum. Based on source apportionment modelling using dual-carbon isotope (14C, 13C) data, coastal erosion releasing old Pleistocene permafrost carbon was identified as a significant source of organic matter translocated to the East Siberian Sea during the Holocene.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1213-1226 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Climate of the Past |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 22 Sept 2017 |
Funding
Acknowledgements. We thank the crew and personnel of I/B Oden. We thank Rienk Smittenberg for the use of the microwave extraction facilities. We also thank Carina Jakobsson, Heike Siegmund and Karin Wallner for their help with the laboratory analyses at the Department of Geological Sciences at Stockholm University and at the Department of Geology of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. This study was supported by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW contract 2011.0027), the Swedish Research Council (VR contracts 621-2004-4039 and 621-2007-4631), the Nordic Council of Ministers Cryosphere– Climate–Carbon Initiative (project Defrost, contract 23001) and the European Research Council (ERC-AdG project CC-TOP no. 695331). Additionally, Igor P. Semiletov thanks the Russian Government for financial support (mega-grant under contract no. 14.Z50.31.0012). Oleg V. Dudarev thanks the Russian Science Foundation for financial support (no. 15-17-20032). Tommaso Tesi acknowledges EU financial support as a Marie Curie fellow (contract no. PIEF-GA-2011-300259); contribution no. 1916 of ISMAR-CNR Sede di Bologna. Lisa Bröder acknowledges financial support from the Climate Research School of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research. Christof Pearce received funding from the Danish Council for Independent Research/Natural Science (project DFF-4002-00098/FNU). Martin Sköld acknowledges financial support from the Swedish Research Council (grant 2013:05204). We also want to thank the editor, Thomas Cronin, and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Climate Research School of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research | |
| ISMAR-CNR Sede di Bologna | |
| KAW | 2011.0027 |
| Nordic Council of Ministers Cryosphere– Climate–Carbon Initiative | 23001 |
| Natur og Univers, Det Frie Forskningsråd | DFF-4002-00098/FNU, 2013:05204 |
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | 300259, 695331 |
| European Commission | PIEF-GA-2011-300259, 1916 |
| European Research Council | |
| Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse | |
| Vetenskapsrådet | 621-2004-4039, 621-2007-4631 |
| Russian Science Foundation | 15-17-20032 |
| Government Council on Grants, Russian Federation |
