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Thawing Carbon From LAND to SEA: Microbial Degradation of Organic Matter and Response to Thawing Permafrost in the Northeast Siberian Land-Shelf System

Project description

Tracing microbial mediation processes on permafrost-carbon feedback to global warming

Arctic permafrost (PF) constitutes an immense carbon stock held in surface soils on land, coastal Pleistocene Ice Complex deposits and shallow subsea sediment in the Arctic area. During thawing, the emission of greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 could further intensify global warming. The microbial degradation of organic matter that occurs within the process is crucial to understanding the biogeochemical carbon cycle and the prediction of future greenhouse gas emission in the Arctic. The EU-funded TCFLAND2SEA project aims to shed light on microbial mediation processes on PF-carbon feedback to global warming through the multidisciplinary quantitative estimation of microbial activity and metabolism in different PF types.

Objective

Arctic permafrost (PF) as vulnerable carbon stock to global warming is increasingly receiving attention due to significant importance in global climate change. Immense carbon stock is held in surface soils on land, coastal Pleistocene Ice Complex Deposit and sediment of shallow subsea in Arctic. Under global warming, the emission of greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 from PF could further intensify global warming; however, the key link between thawing PF and greenhouse gas emission -microbial degradation remains poorly understood. Microbial degradation of organic matter and its response to thawing is conducive to understanding the biogeochemical carbon cycle and even the future prediction of greenhouse gases in Arctic. To better understand microbial mediation on PF-carbon feedback to global warming, this proposal aims to quantitatively estimate the microbial activity and metabolism in different types of PF (inland, coastal Ice Complex Deposit and marine sediment of subsea PF) from the northeast Siberian via multidisciplinary techniques including microcosm incubation, lipid-based stable isotope probing, modelled metabolic flux analysis and metabolomics. This proposal will improve the understanding of microbial ecosystem in response to thawing PF and their roles in biogeochemical carbon cycle in Arctic.

Coordinator

STOCKHOLMS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution
€ 203 852,16
Address
UNIVERSITETSVAGEN 10
10691 Stockholm
Sweden

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Region
Östra Sverige Stockholm Stockholms län
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost
€ 203 852,16