RUI: Effect of Climate Change on Carbon Cycling within the Discontinuous Permafrost Zone of Canada

RUI：气候变化对加拿大不连续永久冻土带碳循环的影响

• 批准号: 0089635
• 负责人: Gary Whiting
• 金额: $ 62.8万
• 依托单位: Christopher Newport University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-04-15 至 2006-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0089635&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Effect; Climate; Change; Carbon

Abstract00-89635WhitingRUI: Effect of climate change on carbon cycling within the discontinuous permafrost zone of CanadaOver most of the Earth's land surface, the quantity of carbon sequestered in soil organic matter is greater by a factor of two or three than the amount stored in living vegetation. The quantity of organic matter in soil plays a critical role in the earth's geochemical carbon cycle. High-latitude peatlands represent only about 11% of the global land surface area, yet contain an estimated 25 to 30% of the world's total soil carbon pool. Much of this carbon is stored in the frozen peat soils within the permafrost layer. The goal of this research is to determine the effect of a changing climate on carbon cycling in Alberta, Canada. Recent evidence indicates that permafrost is degrading in response to elevated temperatures and changing moisture input. As the permafrost melts, the peat surface subsides to the level of the water table and becomes saturated. Early results suggest that these melt areas produce 100-200x greater methane emission than the nearby unmelted bog. Dr. Whiting and students and collaborators plan to study these melt features to determine the origin of the carbon in the methane (ancient vs. new) and to find out if the age of the melt feature affects methane emissions.

气候变化对加拿大不连续永久冻土带碳循环的影响在地球的大部分陆地表面，土壤有机质中的碳含量比活植被中的碳含量高出两到三倍。土壤中有机质的数量在地球化学碳循环中起着至关重要的作用。高纬度泥炭地仅占全球陆地表面积的11%，但估计含有世界土壤碳库总量的25%至30%。这些碳中的大部分储存在永久冻土层内的冰冻泥炭土中。这项研究的目的是确定加拿大阿尔伯塔气候变化对碳循环的影响。最近的证据表明，由于温度升高和水分输入的变化，永久冻土正在退化。随着永久冻土层的融化，泥炭表面下沉到地下水位，并变得饱和。早期的研究结果表明，这些融化区域产生的甲烷排放量比附近未融化的沼泽高出100- 200倍。Whiting博士和学生以及合作者计划研究这些融化特征，以确定甲烷中碳的来源（古代与新），并找出融化特征的年龄是否影响甲烷排放。