Geology topics

Tim Schaefer

Publications and source records attributed to Tim Schaefer.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2018

Permafrost stores a globally significant amount of mercury

Changing climate in northern regions is causing permafrost to thaw with major implications for the global mercury (Hg) cycle. We estimated Hg in permafrost regions based on in situ measurements of sediment total mercury (STHg), soil organic carbon (SOC), and the Hg to carbon ratio (R HgC ) combined with maps of soil carbon. We measured a median STHg of 43 ± 30 ng Hg g soil −1 and a median R HgC of 1.6 ± 0.9 μg Hg g C −1 , consistent with published results of STHg for tundra soils and 11,000 measurements from 4,926 temperate, nonpermafrost sites in North America and Eurasia. We estimate that the Northern Hemisphere permafrost regions contain 1,656 ± 962 Gg Hg, of which 793 ± 461 Gg Hg is frozen in permafrost. Permafrost soils store nearly twice as much Hg as all other soils, the ocean, and the atmosphere combined, and this Hg is vulnerable to release as permafrost thaws over the next century. Existing estimates greatly underestimate Hg in permafrost soils, indicating a need to reevaluate the role of the Arctic regions in the global Hg cycle.

Geophysical Research Letters↗

USGS2014

Carbon and geochemical properties of cryosols on the North Slope of Alaska

Cryosols contain roughly 1700 Gt of Soil organic carbon (SOC) roughly double the carbon content of the atmosphere. As global temperature rises and permafrost thaws, this carbon reservoir becomes vulnerable to microbial decomposition, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions that will amplify anthropogenic warming. Improving our understanding of carbon dynamics in thawing permafrost requires more data on carbon and nitrogen content, soil physical and chemical properties and substrate quality in cryosols. We analyzed five permafrost cores obtained from the North Slope of Alaska during the summer of 2009. The relationship between SOC and soil bulk density can be adequately represented by a logarithmic function. Gas fluxes at − 5 °C and 5 °C were measured to calculate the temperature response quotient (Q 10 ). Q 10 and the respiration per unit soil C were higher in permafrost-affected soils than that in the active layer, suggesting that decomposition and heterotrophic respiration in cryosols may contribute more to global warming.

Alaska↗