From Soil to Ocean: Transfer of terrigenous organic carbon from permafrost soils to the Arctic Ocean

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gesine Mollenhauer
• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
• Term: Funded in 2008
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 89884623

Here we request funds for supporting a sampling campaign in the Bayelva drainage area, Spitsbergen, during which soil and sediment samples will be collected. These samples will be used as basis for a larger research project studying transfer of terrigenous organic matter to the Arctic Ocean. In order to estimate the effect of rising global temperatures on organic carbon (OC) stocks in the temperature-sensitive Arctic environment, our project aims at investigating the transfer of terrestrial OC from permafrost soils to the Arctic Ocean. Detailed compositional analyses of bulk soil and sediments along a transport trajectory combined with compound-specific isotopic (13C and 14C) analysis of selected lipid biomarkers will be used to: Identify suitable biomarkers for soil organic carbon in permafrost soils Determine residence times of selected biomarkers in permafrost soils, fluvial and shallow marine sediments Quantify carbon transfer from source (soil) to sink (marine sediment) and its timescale Study alteration processes occurring during transport.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Professorin Dr. Janet Rethemeyer