Analysis & Comparison of Analysis & Comparison of Carbon and Carbon Content Carbon and Carbon Content

in Wetlandsin WetlandsTamika Tannis, HS StudentTamika Tannis, HS Student

Miriam Jones, Graduate StudentMiriam Jones, Graduate StudentSanpisa Sritrairat, Graduate StudentSanpisa Sritrairat, Graduate Student

Argie Miller, HS TeacherArgie Miller, HS TeacherDr. Dorothy Peteet, ScientistDr. Dorothy Peteet, Scientist

ABSTRACTABSTRACT Purpose: Scientists are interested in how much carbon

wetlands can store to find a way to combat global warming and rising C02 levels, and also to know how much carbon would be released if wetlands were destroyed.

Analyzed the carbon storage ability of the Swanson Fen wetland in Alaska and marsh in Tivoli, New York. A Loss-On-Ignition (LOI) analysis was done to obtain the amount of organic matter in the core. Data used to calculate the total carbon and total organic matter of both cores.

CORE SITESCORE SITES

Swanson Fen, AK Tivoli, NY

MATERIALS & METHODSMATERIALS & METHODS Cores sub sampled at intervals of 4 centimeters. Quantify organic matter content with LOI analysis by burning dried

samples at 375 degrees Celsius for one hour. Percent of organic matter = ((mass of dried sediment – mass of

burned sediment) / mass of dried sediment) * 100. Percent of carbon for Tivoli core calculated with CHN analyzer.

Percent carbon for Swanson Fen estimated to be half of organic matter.

Percents multiplied by bulk density to obtain content in g/cc. For ratio of C-12 to C-13 analysis, samples were dried and ground

into fine particles using mortar and pestle to be run through mass spectrometer machine.

Mass spectrometer measures how much C-12 and C-13 is in the sample and ratio is obtained.

CARBON CONTENT GRAPHCARBON CONTENT GRAPHCarbon Content vs Depth

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2 4 6 8 10 12 14Carbon Content (g/cc)

Tivo

li D

epth

(cm

)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

TivoliSwanson

Swanson

Depth(cm

)

Age (Yr)

160

5540

10725

11280

1375514100

14146

Age (Yr)

220

700

Carbon Content (cg/cc)

TOTAL CARBON & ORGANIC TOTAL CARBON & ORGANIC MATTER COMPARISONMATTER COMPARISON

cg/c

c

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONSDISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS Larger range of fluctuation in Swanson Fen’s carbon content

may be because a fen is more sensitive to water fluctuation. More moisture usually results in higher carbon storage.

Swanson fluctuation corresponds to vegetation changes. Tivoli fluctuation corresponds to date of human impact and disturbances.

For last 700 years, Tivoli’s higher total carbon might be due to the Swanson’s lower nutrients, lower temperature, and shorter growing seasons, which may lead to lower productivity. However, these factors also lower decomposition rate in the fen, so the net carbon storage of the two cores are not much different.

Total carbon and total organic content for cores underestimate the actual values. Data for Tivoli is not representative of entire core. For Swanson core, carbon content was estimated to be half of organic matter, which is not always true.

Future Work: Carbon-13 analysis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NASA Goddard Institute for Space

Studies Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty

Earth Observatory New York City Research Initiative Miriam Jones & Sanpisa Sritrairat Argie Miller Dr. Dorothy Peteet