Organo-mineral interactions in permafrost environments affected by physical degradation
(2025) BE-Polar Conference 2025 — Location: Brussels, Belgium (11.September.2025)
Files
Abstract312MaximeThomasetalOrgano-mineralinteractionsinpermafrost.pdf
abstract
Open Access - Adobe PDF
- 230.93 KB
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- The permafrost carbon-climate-feedback is still poorly quantified at present. The uncertainties are partly attributable to the unknown contribution of the thawing of ice-rich permafrost, which manifests by thermokarst terrains. Another source of uncertainty relates to the proportion of organic carbon (OC) that is linked to mineral surfaces or mineral elements, as mineral-interacting OC. These stabilization mechanisms are presumed to render the corresponding OC fraction less accessible to decomposition, leading to fewer emissions as GHGs. This work investigates the abundance, nature and control of mineral-OC interactions in cross-arctic permafrost soils and sediments affected by thermokarst disturbances. Chemical stabilization mechanisms have been shown to stabilize on average 31 ± 12% of total OC, and this pool of mineral-interacting OC is preserved in materials exported by thermo-erosion processes. We also show that historical permafrost thaw dynamics have a decisive influence on the concentration and proportion of mineral-interacting OC in permafrost environments.
- Affiliations
Citations
Thomas, M., Van Hauwaert, J., Hirst, C., Villani, M., du Bois d’Aische, E., Roux, P., & Opfergelt, S. (2025). Organo-mineral interactions in permafrost environments affected by physical degradation. BE-Polar Conference 2025, Brussels, Belgium. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/260483