Abstract
Black carbon (BC), an important component of organic carbon (OC) produced from incomplete combustion of carbon compounds, is widespread and affects the global carbon storage. The objectives of this study were to analyze the BC contents and fluxes in the last 150 years to determine the causes of differences in the three profiles of the Songnen Plain of Northeast China and to estimate the BC storage in the wetlands of the Songnen Plain. In the three sampling sites, BC fluxes in the period between 1950 and the present time increased by the ratios of 1.3, 31.1 and 1.4, respectively, compared to their own baseline between 1850 and 1900. Furthermore, the BC fluxes varying from 0.76 to 5.63 g m-2 y-1 in the three profiles had an opposite trend with the sand percentages with mean values changing from 78.9% to 19.6%, suggesting that sand desertification might additionally affect the BC processes in the region.
Highlights
Black carbon (BC), chemical carbon compounds formed with incomplete combustion of biomass or fossil fuels [1], is an important component of organic carbon (OC) [2]
The average soil pH in the profiles was in the order of Wulan Pond (WLP)> Boluo Pond (BLP)> Jiandi Pond (JDP), with an overall mean of 9.03±0.09 (Table 1 and Fig 2), indicating the strong alkaline environment
The Pb contents in the profiles increased with decreasing depth; the average Pb contents in the three periods were in the order of WLP< JDP
Summary
Black carbon (BC), chemical carbon compounds formed with incomplete combustion of biomass or fossil fuels [1], is an important component of organic carbon (OC) [2]. BC produced during combustion could emit fumes into the atmosphere as a form of aerosol that affects the climate [3, 4] and Earth’s radiative heat balance [5]. BC has been used as indicators to study the melting of glaciers, the history of fire activity, and the estimation of carbon sequestration potential in soils [8, 10, 11]. It was estimated that 1.6×1018 g of carbon in the soil pool has been stored, of which 28.4% are stored in wetlands [14]. Lack of a PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0140834 October 15, 2015
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