Degrading permafrost river catchments and their impact on Arctic Ocean nearshore processes

Mann, P.; Strauß, Jens; Palmtag, Juri; Dowdy, Kelsey; Ogneva, Olga; Fuchs, Matthias; Bedington, Michael; Torres, Ricardo; Polimene, Luca; Overduin, Paul; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Grosse, Guido; Rachold, Volker; Sobczak, William V.; Spencer, Robert G. M.; Juhls, Bennet

doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01666-z

Cited by 45 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Freshwater inputs have increased because of glacial and icesheet melt and climbing river discharge (Bamber et al, 2018;King et al, 2020;Feng et al, 2021). At the same time, terrestrial permafrost degradation and pollution from outside the permafrost domain are substantially altering the delivery of carbon, nutrients, sediment, and pollutants via coastal collapse, river discharge, groundwater flux, and atmospheric transport (Fisher et al, 2012;Tank et al, 2016;Toohey et al, 2016;Fritz et al, 2017;Drake et al, 2018;Connolly et al, 2020;Wologo et al, 2021;Mann et al, 2022).…”

Section: Miracle Curesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the complexity of the permafrost domain and the unprecedented speed of climate change, we do not know the specific timeline and severity of disruption to its peoples, biodiversity, and biogeochemistry (Proverbs et al, 2020;Bruhwiler et al, 2021;Canadell et al, 2021;Fewster et al, 2022;Mann et al, 2022;Versen et al, 2022). For example, the most comprehensive permafrost model intercomparison project (MIP) of carbon balance estimated a range of ~600 Gt of carbon release to ~200 Gt of carbon uptake by the year 2300 (McGuire et al, 2018).…”

Section: Predicting and Shaping Permafrost Futuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems

Abbott

Brown²,

Carey

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Climate change is an existential threat to the vast global permafrost domain. The diverse human cultures, ecological communities, and biogeochemical cycles of this tenth of the planet depend on the persistence of frozen conditions. The complexity, immensity, and remoteness of permafrost ecosystems make it difficult to grasp how quickly things are changing and what can be done about it. Here, we summarize terrestrial and marine changes in the permafrost domain with an eye toward global policy. While many questions remain, we know that continued fossil fuel burning is incompatible with the continued existence of the permafrost domain as we know it. If we fail to protect permafrost ecosystems, the consequences for human rights, biosphere integrity, and global climate will be severe. The policy implications are clear: the faster we reduce human emissions and draw down atmospheric CO2, the more of the permafrost domain we can save. Emissions reduction targets must be strengthened and accompanied by support for local peoples to protect intact ecological communities and natural carbon sinks within the permafrost domain. Some proposed geoengineering interventions such as solar shading, surface albedo modification, and vegetation manipulations are unproven and may exacerbate environmental injustice without providing lasting protection. Conversely, astounding advances in renewable energy have reopened viable pathways to halve human greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and effectively stop them well before 2050. We call on leaders, corporations, researchers, and citizens everywhere to acknowledge the global importance of the permafrost domain and work towards climate restoration and empowerment of Indigenous and immigrant communities in these regions.

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Section: Miracle Curesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Predicting and Shaping Permafrost Futuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems

Abbott

Brown²,

Carey

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…With the ongoing deepening of the active layer in Arctic soils, an increased leaching of elements and nutrients may occur (Mann et al, 2022;Sanders et al, 2022), which may substantially impact marine biodiversity and ecosystem function. We have shown for several regions of the Arctic that there will be regional differences in element mobilization upon permafrost thaw.…”

Section: Transport Of Elements To the Arctic Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This warming leads to thawing of perennially frozen ground known as permafrost (Brown and Romanovsky, 2008;Romanovsky et al, 2010). Frozen conditions prevent organic matter (OM) from microbial degradation and also limits fluvial export of soil-bound nutrients to the sea by runoff (Mann et al, 2022). Thawing of frozen ground (defined as permafrost soils in the following) may in turn accelerate global warming by potentially releasing potent greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) through soil organic carbon mineralization (Schuur et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pan-Arctic soil element availability estimations

Stimmler

Goeckede²,

Elberling³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Arctic soils store large amounts of organic carbon and other elements such as amorphous silica, silicon, calcium, iron, aluminium, and phosphorous. Global warming is projected to be most pronounced in the Arctic leading to thawing permafrost, which in turn is changing the soil element availability. To project how biogeochemical cycling in Arctic ecosystems will be affected by climate change, there is a need for data on element availability. Here, we analysed amorphous silica (ASi), silicon (Si), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), phosphorus (P), and aluminium (Al) availability from 574 soil samples from the circumpolar Arctic region. We show large differences in ASi, Si, Ca, Fe, P, and Al availability among different lithologies and Arctic regions. We summarized these data in pan-Arctic maps of ASi, Si, Ca, Fe, P, and Al concentrations focussing on the top 100 cm of Arctic soil. Furthermore, we provide values for element availability for the organic and the mineral layer of the seasonally thawing active layer as well as for the uppermost permafrost layer. Our spatially explicit data on differences in the availability of elements between the different lithological classes and regions now and in the future will improve Arctic Earth system models for estimating current and future carbon and nutrient feedbacks under climate change.

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“…Little is known about the magnitude of CH4 concentrations and emissions from flowing Arctic inland waters, as well as how they vary over time and space. Point CH4 measurements in some Arctic rivers and streams have demonstrated supersaturation relative to the atmosphere (e.g., Kling et al, 1992;Mann et al, 2022;Striegl et al, 2012;Zolkos et al, 2019). However, highly resolved aquatic CH4 measurements are 90 lacking in large portions of Arctic rivers and streams, and these are needed to better quantify the atmospheric gas fluxes and understand the temporal variations and the environmental indicators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The highest methane concentrations in an Arctic river are linked to local terrestrial inputs

Castro-Morales

Canning

Arzberger

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Large amounts of methane (CH4) could potentially be formed as a result of the gradual or abrupt thawing of Arctic permafrost due to global warming. Upon its release, this potent greenhouse gas can be emitted into the atmosphere, or transported laterally into aquatic ecosystems via hydrologic connectivity at surface or groundwaters. While high northern latitudes contribute up to 5 % of total global CH4 emissions, the specific contribution of Arctic rivers and streams is largely unknown. In this study, we measured high-resolution continuous CH4 concentrations in a ~120 km section of the Kolyma River in Northeast Siberia navigated twice between 15–17 June 2019 (late freshet). The average partial pressure of CH4 (pCH4) in tributaries (66.8–206.8 µatm) was 2–7 times higher than in the main river channel (28.3 µatm). In the main channel, CH4 was up to 1600 % supersaturated with respect to atmospheric equilibrium. At key sites located near the riverbank and tributary confluences, pCH4 (41±7 µatm) and emissions (0.03±0.004 mmol m–2 d–1) were higher compared to other sites within the main channel. Warm waters (T>14.5 °C) and low specific conductivities (κ<88 µS cm–1) defined these key sites. The distribution of methane in the river could also be linked statistically to T and κ of the water, as well as to the distance to the shore z, as indicators used to predict CH4 concentrations in unsampled river areas. Similarly, the abundance of methane consuming bacteria and methane producing archaea strongly correlated mainly to T and κ, and less to the pCH4, and were similar to those previously detected in nearby soils, suggesting the source of CH4 to be associated with sites close to land. The average total CH4 flux densities in the investigated Kolyma River section were 0.02±0.006 mml m–2 d–1, equivalent to a total CH4 flux of 12.4 mmol m–2. Key sites with highest CH4 concentrations contributed from 13 to 20 % to the total flux. Our study highlights the importance of high-resolution continuous CH4 measurements in Arctic Rivers for identifying spatial and temporal variabilities, and offers a glimpse to the magnitude of riverine methane emissions in the Arctic and their potential relevance to regional methane budgets.

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Degrading permafrost river catchments and their impact on Arctic Ocean nearshore processes

Cited by 45 publications

References 82 publications

We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems

We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems

Pan-Arctic soil element availability estimations

The highest methane concentrations in an Arctic river are linked to local terrestrial inputs

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