Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon

Northern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural abundanc...

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Main Authors: Fenix Garcia-Tigreros, Clayton D Elder, Martin R Kurek, Benjamin L Miller, Xiaomei Xu, Kimberly P Wickland, Claudia I Czimczik, Mark M Dornblaser, Robert G Striegl, Ethan D Kyzivat, Laurence C Smith, Robert G M Spencer, Charles E Miller, David E Butman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2023-01-01
Series:Environmental Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993
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author Fenix Garcia-Tigreros
Clayton D Elder
Martin R Kurek
Benjamin L Miller
Xiaomei Xu
Kimberly P Wickland
Claudia I Czimczik
Mark M Dornblaser
Robert G Striegl
Ethan D Kyzivat
Laurence C Smith
Robert G M Spencer
Charles E Miller
David E Butman
author_facet Fenix Garcia-Tigreros
Clayton D Elder
Martin R Kurek
Benjamin L Miller
Xiaomei Xu
Kimberly P Wickland
Claudia I Czimczik
Mark M Dornblaser
Robert G Striegl
Ethan D Kyzivat
Laurence C Smith
Robert G M Spencer
Charles E Miller
David E Butman
author_sort Fenix Garcia-Tigreros
collection DOAJ
description Northern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural abundance of radiocarbon to identify and trace the predominant sources of methane, carbon dioxide, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon in nine lakes within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in interior Alaska, a discontinuous permafrost region with high landscape heterogeneity and susceptibility to climate, permafrost, and hydrological changes. We find that although Yukon Flats lakes primarily process young carbon (modern to 1290 ± 60 years before present), permafrost-derived carbon is present in some of the sampled lakes and contributes, at most, 30 ± 10% of the dissolved carbon in lake surface waters. Apportionment of young carbon and legacy carbon (carbon with radiocarbon age ⩾5000 years before present) is decoupled among the dissolved inorganic and organic carbon species, with methane showing a stronger legacy signature. Our observations suggest that permafrost-thaw-related transport of carbon through Yukon Flats lacustrine ecosystems and into the atmosphere is small, and likely regulated by surficial sediments, permafrost distribution, wildfire occurrence, or masked by contemporary carbon processes. The heterogeneity of lakes across our study area and northern landscapes more broadly cautions against using any one region (e.g. Yedoma permafrost lakes) to upscale their contribution across the pan-Arctic.
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spelling doaj.art-a7bc94d6cd3f4760b2f9f6ce67ed35f32023-11-17T08:30:53ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262023-01-01181212402410.1088/1748-9326/ad0993Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbonFenix Garcia-Tigreros0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8694-9046Clayton D Elder1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9831-2106Martin R Kurek2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6904-5253Benjamin L Miller3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8579-9621Xiaomei Xu4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3678-2748Kimberly P Wickland5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6400-0590Claudia I Czimczik6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8251-6603Mark M Dornblaser7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6298-3757Robert G Striegl8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8251-4659Ethan D Kyzivat9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4748-2938Laurence C Smith10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6866-5904Robert G M Spencer11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0777-0748Charles E Miller12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9380-4838David E Butman13https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3520-7426Department of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle, WA, United States of America; Now at Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island , Narragansett, RI, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University , Tallahassee, FL, United States of America; National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Geochemistry Group , Tallahassee, FL, United States of AmericaDepartment of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle, WA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth System Sciences, University of California , Irvine, CA, United States of AmericaU.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Mission Area , Boulder, CO, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth System Sciences, University of California , Irvine, CA, United States of AmericaU.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Mission Area , Boulder, CO, United States of AmericaU.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Mission Area , Boulder, CO, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences and Institute at Brown for Environment & Society, Brown University , Providence, RI, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences and Institute at Brown for Environment & Society, Brown University , Providence, RI, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University , Tallahassee, FL, United States of America; National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Geochemistry Group , Tallahassee, FL, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle, WA, United States of America; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington , Seattle, WA, United States of AmericaNorthern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural abundance of radiocarbon to identify and trace the predominant sources of methane, carbon dioxide, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon in nine lakes within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in interior Alaska, a discontinuous permafrost region with high landscape heterogeneity and susceptibility to climate, permafrost, and hydrological changes. We find that although Yukon Flats lakes primarily process young carbon (modern to 1290 ± 60 years before present), permafrost-derived carbon is present in some of the sampled lakes and contributes, at most, 30 ± 10% of the dissolved carbon in lake surface waters. Apportionment of young carbon and legacy carbon (carbon with radiocarbon age ⩾5000 years before present) is decoupled among the dissolved inorganic and organic carbon species, with methane showing a stronger legacy signature. Our observations suggest that permafrost-thaw-related transport of carbon through Yukon Flats lacustrine ecosystems and into the atmosphere is small, and likely regulated by surficial sediments, permafrost distribution, wildfire occurrence, or masked by contemporary carbon processes. The heterogeneity of lakes across our study area and northern landscapes more broadly cautions against using any one region (e.g. Yedoma permafrost lakes) to upscale their contribution across the pan-Arctic.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993Arctic-boreal lakesradiocarbonpermafrostAlaskagreenhouse gases
spellingShingle Fenix Garcia-Tigreros
Clayton D Elder
Martin R Kurek
Benjamin L Miller
Xiaomei Xu
Kimberly P Wickland
Claudia I Czimczik
Mark M Dornblaser
Robert G Striegl
Ethan D Kyzivat
Laurence C Smith
Robert G M Spencer
Charles E Miller
David E Butman
Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
Environmental Research Letters
Arctic-boreal lakes
radiocarbon
permafrost
Alaska
greenhouse gases
title Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
title_full Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
title_fullStr Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
title_full_unstemmed Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
title_short Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
title_sort arctic boreal lakes of interior alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
topic Arctic-boreal lakes
radiocarbon
permafrost
Alaska
greenhouse gases
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993
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