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Extensive loss of past permafrost carbon but a net accumulation into present-day soils

Lindgren, Amelie, Hugelius, Gustaf, Kuhry, Peter·2018·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-018-0371-0
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Abstract

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide increased between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, around 21,000 years ago) and the preindustrial era 1 . It is thought that the evolution of this atmospheric carbon dioxide (and that of atmospheric methane) during the glacial-to-interglacial transition was influenced by organic carbon that was stored in permafrost during the LGM and then underwent decomposition and release following thaw 2,3 . It has also been suggested that the rather erratic atmospheric δ 13 C and ∆ 14 C signals seen during deglaciation 1,4 could partly be explained by the presence of a large terrestrial inert LGM carbon stock, despite the biosphere being less productive (and therefore storing less carbon) 5,6 . Here we present an empirically derived estimate of the carbon stored in permafrost during the LGM by reconstructing the extent and carbon content of LGM biomes, peatland regions and deep sedimentary deposits. We find that the total estimated soil carbon stock for the LGM northern permafrost region is smaller than the estimated present-day storage (in both permafrost and non-permafrost soils) for the same region. A substantial decrease in the permafrost area from the LGM to the present day has been accompanied by a roughly 400-petagram increase in the total soil carbon stock. This increase in soil carbon suggests that permafrost carbon has made no net contribution to the atmospheric carbon pool since the LGM. However, our results also indicate potential pos…

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  • Many large grazers, such as bison and horse, that inhabited arctic Beringia may have been rare or absent on the southern land bridge, where extensive peat formation took place during the LGM.

    “Many large grazers, such as bison and horse, that inhabited arctic Beringia may have been rare or absent on the southern land bridge, where extensive peat formation took place during the LGM [34]”

    From Beringia and the peopling of the Western Hemisphere (2023) · cites this paper as [34]

  • Mammoth was present on the southern Bering Land Bridge.

    “although mammoth, which survived after its inundation on one of the Pribilofs, was present.”

    From Beringia and the peopling of the Western Hemisphere (2023) · cites this paper as [34]

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Metadata

Authors
Lindgren, A., Hugelius, G., & Kuhry, P.
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-08
Volume
560
Issue
7717
Pages
219-222
ISSN
  • 0028-0836
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-018-0371-0
Cited by
76
References
2
Language
en
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)

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