Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/26429
Appears in Collections:Biological and Environmental Sciences Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Abundant pre-industrial carbon detected in Canadian Arctic headwaters – implications for the permafrost carbon feedback
Author(s): Dean, Joshua
van der Velde, Ype
Garnett, Mark H
Dinsmore, Kerry J
Baxter, Robert
Lessels, Jason S
Smith, Pete
Street, Lorna E
Subke, Jens-Arne
Tetzlaff, Doerthe
Washbourne, Ian
Wookey, Philip
Billett, Michael
Keywords: Carbon dioxide (CO2)
dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
methane (CH4)
Arcticcatchments
inland waters
radiocarbon (14C)
Issue Date: 27-Feb-2018
Date Deposited: 21-Dec-2017
Citation: Dean J, van der Velde Y, Garnett MH, Dinsmore KJ, Baxter R, Lessels JS, Smith P, Street LE, Subke J, Tetzlaff D, Washbourne I, Wookey P & Billett M (2018) Abundant pre-industrial carbon detected in Canadian Arctic headwaters – implications for the permafrost carbon feedback. Environmental Research Letters, 13 (3), Art. No.: 034024. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa1fe
Abstract: Mobilization of soil/sediment organic carbon into inland waters constitutes a substantial, but poorly-constrained, component of the global carbon cycle. Radiocarbon (14C) analysis has proven a valuable tool in tracing the sources and fate of mobilized carbon, but aquatic 14C studies in permafrost regions rarely detect ‘old’ carbon (assimilated from the atmosphere into plants and soil prior to AD1950). The emission of greenhouse gases derived from old carbon by aquatic systems may indicate that carbon sequestered prior to AD1950 is being destabilized, thus contributing to the ‘permafrost carbon feedback’ (PCF). Here, we measure directly the 14C content of aquatic CO2, alongside dissolved organic carbon, in headwater systems of the western Canadian Arctic – the first such concurrent measurements in the Arctic. Age distribution analysis indicates that the age of mobilized aquatic carbon increased significantly during the 2014 snowfree season as the active layer deepened. This increase in age was more pronounced in DOC, rising from 101 to 228 years before sampling date (a 120-125% increase) compared to CO2, which rose from 92 to 151 years before sampling date (a 59-63% increase). ‘Pre-industrial’ aged carbon (assimilated prior to ~AD1750) comprised 15-40% of the total aquatic carbon fluxes, demonstrating the prevalence of old carbon to Arctic headwaters. Although the presence of this old carbon is not necessarily indicative of a net positive PCF, we provide an approach and baseline data which can be used for future assessment of the PCF
DOI Link: 10.1088/1748-9326/aaa1fe
Rights: Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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