Abstract
Abstract. Pleistocene ice complex permafrost deposits contain roughly a quarter of the organic carbon (OC) stored in permafrost (PF) terrain. When permafrost thaws, its OC is remobilized into the (aquatic) environment where it is available for degradation, transport or burial. Aquatic or coastal environments contain sedimentary reservoirs that can serve as archives of past climatic change. As permafrost thaw is increasing throughout the Arctic, these reservoirs are important locations to assess the fate of remobilized permafrost OC.We here present compound-specific deuterium (δ2H) analysis on leaf waxes as a tool to distinguish between OC released from thawing Pleistocene permafrost (ice complex deposits; ICD) and from thawing Holocene permafrost (from near-surface soils). Bulk geochemistry (%OC; δ13C; %total nitrogen, TN) was analyzed as well as the concentrations and δ2H signatures of long-chain n-alkanes (C21 to C33) and mid- to long-chain n-alkanoic acids (C16 to C30) extracted from both ICD-PF samples (n = 9) and modern vegetation and O-horizon (topsoil-PF) samples (n = 9) from across the northeast Siberian Arctic. Results show that these topsoil-PF samples have higher %OC, higher OC ∕ TN values and more depleted δ13C-OC values than ICD-PF samples, suggesting that these former samples trace a fresher soil and/or vegetation source. Whereas the two investigated sources differ on the bulk geochemical level, they are, however, virtually indistinguishable when using leaf wax concentrations and ratios. However, on the molecular isotope level, leaf wax biomarker δ2H values are statistically different between topsoil PF and ICD PF. For example, the mean δ2H value of C29 n-alkane was −246 ± 13 ‰ (mean ± SD) for topsoil PF and −280 ± 12 ‰ for ICD PF. With a dynamic isotopic range (difference between two sources) of 34 to 50 ‰; the isotopic fingerprints of individual, abundant, biomarker molecules from leaf waxes can thus serve as endmembers to distinguish between these two sources. We tested this molecular δ2H tracer along with another source-distinguishing approach, dual-carbon (δ13C–Δ14C) isotope composition of bulk OC, for a surface sediment transect in the Laptev Sea. Results show that general offshore patterns along the shelf-slope transect are similar, but the source apportionment between the approaches vary, which may highlight the advantages of either. This study indicates that the application of δ2H leaf wax values has potential to serve as a complementary quantitative measure of the source and differential fate of OC thawed out from different permafrost compartments.
Highlights
Climate warming is causing permafrost (PF) soils to thaw, exposing their organic matter (OM) to decomposition (e.g., Schuur et al, 2015; Zimov et al, 1993; Semiletov et al, 2012)
Bulk geochemistry (%organic carbon (OC); δ13C; %total nitrogen, TN) was analyzed as well as the concentrations and δ2H signatures of long-chain n-alkanes (C21 to C33) and midto long-chain n-alkanoic acids (C16 to C30) extracted from both ice complex deposits (ICD)-PF samples (n = 9) and modern vegetation and Ohorizon samples (n = 9) from across the northeast Siberian Arctic. Results show that these topsoil-PF samples have higher %OC, higher OC / TN values and more depleted δ13COC values than ICD-PF samples, suggesting that these former samples trace a fresher soil and/or vegetation source
On the molecular isotope level, leaf wax biomarker δ2H values are statistically different between topsoil PF and ICD PF
Summary
Climate warming is causing permafrost (PF) soils to thaw, exposing their organic matter (OM) to decomposition (e.g., Schuur et al, 2015; Zimov et al, 1993; Semiletov et al, 2012). The OM can continue to decompose, generating greenhouse gases (e.g., Semiletov et al, 1996a, b; Anderson et al, 2009; Shakhova et al, 2015), or be destined for burial in inland and coastal sediments These sedimentary archives serve as long- and short-term reservoirs that attenuate greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost (Vonk and Gustafsson, 2013; Semiletov et al, 2011). In addition to active layer material, OM from deeper and older permafrost sources can thaw and be released into the environment (Shakhova et al, 2007, 2014) This process currently dominates the delivery of terrestrial material onto the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (Vonk et al, 2012; Semiletov et al, 1999) and is expected to increase due to accelerating coastal erosion rates (Günther et al, 2013)
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