Particulate Organic Matter Dynamics in a Permafrost Headwater Stream and the Kolyma River Mainstem

Bröder, Lisa; Davydova, A. I.; Davydov, S.; Zimov, N.; Haghipour, Negar; Eglinton, T. I.; Vonk, Jorien E.

doi:10.1029/2019jg005511

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These trends agree with seasonal variations observed in previous studies [8,44]. The water isotopes, especially δH (table 1), showed a more depleted signal during freshet, suggesting a higher contribution of snow than of rain compared to summer [44,45].…”

Section: River Conditions Of Freshet and Summersupporting

confidence: 91%

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Seasonal variability in particulate organic carbon degradation in the Kolyma River, Siberia

Keskitalo

Bröder

Jong

et al. 2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Major Arctic rivers are undergoing changes due to climate warming with higher discharge and increased amounts of solutes and organic carbon (OC) draining into rivers and coastal seas. Permafrost thaw mobilizes previously frozen OC to the fluvial network where it can be degraded into greenhouse gases and emitted to the atmosphere. Degradation of OC during downstream transport, especially of the particulate OC (POC), is however poorly characterized. Here, we quantified POC degradation in the Kolyma River, the largest river system underlain with continuous permafrost, during 9-15 day whole-water incubations (containing POC and dissolved OC - DOC) during two seasons: spring freshet (early June) and late summer (end of July). Furthermore, we examined interactions between dissolved and particulate phases using parallel incubations of filtered water (only DOC). We measured OC concentrations and carbon isotopes (δ13C, Δ14C) to define carbon losses and to characterize OC composition, respectively. We found that both POC composition and biodegradability differs greatly between seasons. During summer, POC was predominantly autochthonous (47-95 %) and degraded rapidly (~33 %) whereas freshet POC was largely of allochthonous origin (77-96 %) and less degradable. Gains in POC concentrations (up to 31 %) were observed in freshet waters that could be attributed to flocculation and adsorption of DOC to particles. The demonstrated DOC flocculation and adsorption to POC indicates that the fate and dynamics of the substantially-sized DOC pool may shift from degradation to settling, depending on season and POC concentrations - the latter potentially acting to attenuate greenhouse gas emissions from fluvial systems. We finally note that DOC incubations without POC present may yield degradation estimates that do not reflect degradation in the in situ river conditions, and that interaction between dissolved and particulate phases may be important to consider when determining fluvial carbon dynamics and feedbacks under a changing climate.

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Section: River Conditions Of Freshet and Summersupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The ∆ 14 C-POC varies within and between seasons with no apparent trends (table 2). These seasonal differences in ∆ 14 C may be due to yearly fluctuations of the river as seen in previous studies [44] that likely depend on variation in air temperatures, precipitation and thus different permafrost thaw patterns [54].…”

Section: Oc Sources Of Freshet and Summermentioning

confidence: 74%

Seasonal variability in particulate organic carbon degradation in the Kolyma River, Siberia

Keskitalo

Bröder

Jong

et al. 2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Data from previous studies show terrestrial deposits from peat and non-peat locations including Ice Complex deposits (ICD) 36 , 44 , Holocene thermokarst 36 , peat permafrost 45 , and active layer (AL) material 44 , 45 , as well as translocated material including Buor-Khaya Bay surface sediments (sed.) 42 , 46 and Kolyma river suspended matter 47 . Box plots show medians with 25th and 75th percentiles as box limits, minimum/maximum values as whiskers, and numbers of observations in italics.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organic matter now in subsea permafrost may have been degraded at the site of origin, during transport, after re-deposition before freeze-down, and again after re-thaw. Lignin- and lipid-based degradation proxies suggest that terrestrial organic matter in translocated deposits such as river suspended material and marine sediments 14 , 42 , 46 , 47 is more degraded than in terrestrial (source) deposits 14 , 36 , 44 , 45 , 48 (Fig. 6 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea

et al. 2022

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Subsea permafrost represents a large carbon pool that might be or become a significant greenhouse gas source. Scarcity of observational data causes large uncertainties. We here use five 21-56 m long subsea permafrost cores from the Laptev Sea to constrain organic carbon (OC) storage and sources, degradation state and potential greenhouse gas production upon thaw. Grain sizes, optically-stimulated luminescence and biomarkers suggest deposition of aeolian silt and fluvial sand over 160 000 years, with dominant fluvial/alluvial deposition of forest- and tundra-derived organic matter. We estimate an annual thaw rate of 1.3 ± 0.6 kg OC m−2 in subsea permafrost in the area, nine-fold exceeding organic carbon thaw rates for terrestrial permafrost. During 20-month incubations, CH4 and CO2 production averaged 1.7 nmol and 2.4 µmol g−1 OC d−1, providing a baseline to assess the contribution of subsea permafrost to the high CH4 fluxes and strong ocean acidification observed in the region.

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“…Studies on headwater carbon dynamics have largely examined tropical and temperate streams in association with rainstorm events (Pereira et al, 2014;Argerich et al, 2016;Johnson et al, 2006;Waterloo et al, 2006). By comparison, headwater streams residing in alpine regions that are heavily affected by freeze-thaw and snow melting events are less well studied (Mann et al, 2015;Bröder et al, 2020;Chiasson-Poirier et al, 2020). The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, known as the "Asian Water Tower", harbors numerous headwater streams for seven major Asian rivers (Immerzeel et al, 2010;Qiu, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial-temporal variations in riverine carbon strongly influenced by local hydrological events in an alpine headwater stream

Wang¹,

Liu²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Headwater streams drain > 70 % of global land areas but are poorly monitored compared with large rivers. The small size and low water buffering capacity of headwater streams may result in a high sensitivity to local hydrological alterations and divergent carbon transport dynamics relative to large rivers. To assess these aspects, here we carry out a benchmark investigation on the riverine carbon dynamics in a typical alpine headwater stream (Shaliu River) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau based on annual flux monitoring, in-depth seasonal sampling and hydrological event monitoring. We show that riverine carbon in the Shaliu River was dominated by dissolved inorganic carbon, peaking in the summer due to high discharge brought by the monsoon. Combining seasonal sampling along the river and monitoring of soil-river carbon transfer during spring thaw, we also show that both dissolved and particulate forms of riverine carbon increased downstream in the pre-monsoon season due to increasing contribution of organic matter derived from thawed permafrost along the river. By comparison, riverine carbon fluctuated in the summer, likely associated with sporadic inputs of organic matter supplied by local precipitation events during the monsoon season. Furthermore, using lignin phenol analysis for both riverine organic matter and soils in the basin, we show that the higher acid-to-aldehyde (Ad / Al) ratios of riverine lignin in the monsoon season reflect a larger contribution of topsoil likely via increased surface runoff compared with the pre-monsoon season when soil leachate lignin Ad / Al ratios were closer to those in the subsoil than topsoil solutions. Overall, these findings highlight the unique patterns and strong links of carbon dynamics in alpine headwater streams with local hydrological events. Given the projected climate warming on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, thawing of seasonal permafrost and alterations of precipitation regimes may significantly influence the alpine headwater carbon dynamics, with cascading effects on the biogeochemical cycles of the watersheds. The alpine headwater streams may also be utilized as sentinels for climate-induced changes in the hydrological pathways and/or biogeochemistry of the small basin.

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Particulate Organic Matter Dynamics in a Permafrost Headwater Stream and the Kolyma River Mainstem

Cited by 18 publications

References 42 publications

Seasonal variability in particulate organic carbon degradation in the Kolyma River, Siberia

Seasonal variability in particulate organic carbon degradation in the Kolyma River, Siberia

Organic matter composition and greenhouse gas production of thawing subsea permafrost in the Laptev Sea

Spatial-temporal variations in riverine carbon strongly influenced by local hydrological events in an alpine headwater stream

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