Traveling Light: Arctic Coastal Erosion Releases Mostly Matrix Free, Unprotected Organic Carbon

F. C.J. van Crimpen; L. Madaj; D. Whalen; T. Tesi; J. M. van Genuchten; L. Bröder; T. I. Eglinton; N. Haghipour; J. E. Vonk

doi:10.1029/2024GL108622

Traveling Light: Arctic Coastal Erosion Releases Mostly Matrix Free, Unprotected Organic Carbon

F. C.J. van Crimpen^*
, L. Madaj
, D. Whalen
, T. Tesi
, J. M. van Genuchten
, L. Bröder
, T. I. Eglinton
, N. Haghipour
, J. E. Vonk

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth and Climate

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The Arctic rapidly warms and sea ice retreats, a large fraction of organic carbon (OC), currently stored in coastal permafrost will be released into the marine system. Once reintroduced into the active carbon cycle, this material will either be decomposed or buried on the shelf depending on its hydrodynamic and chemical properties. Currently, carbon estimates are based on bulk measurements, which does not take the hydrodynamic pathway of different fractions into account. Therefore, eight coastal permafrost locations have been sampled along the Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast, hydrodynamically fractionated and analyzed for their C, N, ¹³C and ¹⁴C content. We found that the matrix-free fraction (low density <1.8 g/cm³, and high-density >1.8 g/cm³; <38 μm) account for 77%–98% of the OC. By using a coastal classification combined with field data, our results showed that short coastal segments can become key players in delivering matrix-free, easily degradable OC to the marine system.

Original language	English
Article number	e2024GL108622
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	51
Issue number	16
Early online date	26 Aug 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108622
Publication status	Published - 28 Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024. The Author(s).

Funding

We would like to thank Angus Robertson, Bay Barry, Obie Anikina, James Keevik, Kendyce Cockney and the Aurora Research Institute in Inuvik for their help with the field work and organization. This program would not have been possible without the support from the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation (TCC). Thanks to Dirk Jong and Kirsi Keskitalo for their support with protocols and methods. We are grateful for the logistical support of Natural Resources Canada's Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP). This project is funded through the Dutch Research Council (VI.Vidi.193.100) and falls under NWT Research license: 16897 and ILA land use permit: ILA18TN005. We also acknowledge support and opportunities via the Horizon 2020 program Nunataryuk (Grant 773421).

Funders	Funder number
Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk
Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation
Natural Resources Canada
Kendyce Cockney
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	VI.Vidi.193.100
NWT	ILA18TN005, 16897
Horizon 2020 program Nunataryuk	773421

Keywords

Canadian Beaufort sea
coastal erosion
hydrodynamic fractionation
organic carbon
permafrost

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10.1029/2024GL108622

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title = "Traveling Light: Arctic Coastal Erosion Releases Mostly Matrix Free, Unprotected Organic Carbon",

abstract = "The Arctic rapidly warms and sea ice retreats, a large fraction of organic carbon (OC), currently stored in coastal permafrost will be released into the marine system. Once reintroduced into the active carbon cycle, this material will either be decomposed or buried on the shelf depending on its hydrodynamic and chemical properties. Currently, carbon estimates are based on bulk measurements, which does not take the hydrodynamic pathway of different fractions into account. Therefore, eight coastal permafrost locations have been sampled along the Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast, hydrodynamically fractionated and analyzed for their C, N, 13C and 14C content. We found that the matrix-free fraction (low density <1.8 g/cm3, and high-density >1.8 g/cm3; <38 μm) account for 77\%–98\% of the OC. By using a coastal classification combined with field data, our results showed that short coastal segments can become key players in delivering matrix-free, easily degradable OC to the marine system.",

keywords = "Canadian Beaufort sea, coastal erosion, hydrodynamic fractionation, organic carbon, permafrost",

author = "\{van Crimpen\}, \{F. C.J.\} and L. Madaj and D. Whalen and T. Tesi and \{van Genuchten\}, \{J. M.\} and L. Br{\"o}der and Eglinton, \{T. I.\} and N. Haghipour and Vonk, \{J. E.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024. The Author(s).",

year = "2024",

month = aug,

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doi = "10.1029/2024GL108622",

language = "English",

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T2 - Arctic Coastal Erosion Releases Mostly Matrix Free, Unprotected Organic Carbon

AU - van Crimpen, F. C.J.

AU - Madaj, L.

AU - Whalen, D.

AU - Tesi, T.

AU - van Genuchten, J. M.

AU - Bröder, L.

AU - Eglinton, T. I.

AU - Haghipour, N.

AU - Vonk, J. E.

PY - 2024/8/28

Y1 - 2024/8/28

N2 - The Arctic rapidly warms and sea ice retreats, a large fraction of organic carbon (OC), currently stored in coastal permafrost will be released into the marine system. Once reintroduced into the active carbon cycle, this material will either be decomposed or buried on the shelf depending on its hydrodynamic and chemical properties. Currently, carbon estimates are based on bulk measurements, which does not take the hydrodynamic pathway of different fractions into account. Therefore, eight coastal permafrost locations have been sampled along the Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast, hydrodynamically fractionated and analyzed for their C, N, 13C and 14C content. We found that the matrix-free fraction (low density <1.8 g/cm3, and high-density >1.8 g/cm3; <38 μm) account for 77%–98% of the OC. By using a coastal classification combined with field data, our results showed that short coastal segments can become key players in delivering matrix-free, easily degradable OC to the marine system.

AB - The Arctic rapidly warms and sea ice retreats, a large fraction of organic carbon (OC), currently stored in coastal permafrost will be released into the marine system. Once reintroduced into the active carbon cycle, this material will either be decomposed or buried on the shelf depending on its hydrodynamic and chemical properties. Currently, carbon estimates are based on bulk measurements, which does not take the hydrodynamic pathway of different fractions into account. Therefore, eight coastal permafrost locations have been sampled along the Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast, hydrodynamically fractionated and analyzed for their C, N, 13C and 14C content. We found that the matrix-free fraction (low density <1.8 g/cm3, and high-density >1.8 g/cm3; <38 μm) account for 77%–98% of the OC. By using a coastal classification combined with field data, our results showed that short coastal segments can become key players in delivering matrix-free, easily degradable OC to the marine system.

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KW - hydrodynamic fractionation

KW - organic carbon

KW - permafrost

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Traveling Light: Arctic Coastal Erosion Releases Mostly Matrix Free, Unprotected Organic Carbon

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