Sub-Surface Carbon Stocks in Northern Taiga Landscapes Exposed in the Batagay Megaslump, Yana Upland, Yakutia
Andrei G. Shepelev,
Alexander Kizyakov,
Sebastian Wetterich,
Alexandra Cherepanova,
Alexander Fedorov,
Igor Syromyatnikov,
Grigoriy Savvinov
Affiliations
Andrei G. Shepelev
Laboratory of Permafrost Landscapes, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Alexander Kizyakov
Cryolithology and Glaciology Department, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Sebastian Wetterich
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Alexandra Cherepanova
Laboratory of General Geocryology, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Alexander Fedorov
Laboratory of Permafrost Landscapes, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Igor Syromyatnikov
Laboratory of General Geocryology, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, 36 Merzlotnaya St., 677010 Yakutsk, Russia
Grigoriy Savvinov
Science Research Institute of Applied Ecology of the North, North-East Federal University, 43 Lenin Avenue, 677007 Yakutsk, Russia
The most massive and fast-eroding thaw slump of the Northern Hemisphere located in the Yana Uplands of Northern Yakutia was investigated to assess in detail the cryogenic inventory and carbon pools of two distinctive Ice Complex stratigraphic units and the uppermost cover deposits. Differentiating into modern and Holocene near-surface layers (active layer and shielding layer), highest total carbon contents were found in the active layer (18.72 kg m−2), while the shielding layer yielded a much lower carbon content of 1.81 kg m−2. The late Pleistocene upper Ice Complex contained 10.34 kg m−2 total carbon, and the mid-Pleistocene lower Ice Complex 17.66 kg m−2. The proportion of organic carbon from total carbon content is well above 70% in all studied units with 94% in the active layer, 73% in the shielding layer, 83% in the upper Ice Complex and 79% in the lower Ice Complex. Inorganic carbon is low in the overall structure of the deposits.
