Sources and age of terrigenousorganic matter exported from theLena River watershed, NE Siberia

Maria Winterfeld1,2, Miguel Goñi3, Janna Just4, Jens Hefter2,Shuwen Sun2, Pai Han2 & Gesine Mollenhauer1,2

1Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany; 2University of Bremen, Germany;3Oregon State University, USA; 4MARUM, Germany

Lena Delta (Landsat 2000, NASA)

2

Motivation

amplifiedArctic warming

• accelarated permafrost thawing• soil erosion & export via rivers

Composition of modern exported POM?Can it serve as baseline for future changes in the catchment?

permafrost distriution:Brown et al., 1997 Hugelius et al., 2014

catchment: ~2.5*106 km2

discharge: 588 km3 (1999-2008)

tundra

taiga

• strong seasonality of discharge• à spring freshet end of May/early

June with ~50% of annual sediment, DOC, and POC export

Lena River catchment

3sources: www.arcticgreatrivers.org; Holmes et a. 2002, 2012; Roshydromet

4

Sources of POM – Approach

Tundra

Taiga

2

Late Pleistocene(10-40*103 yrs)

Lignin phenols POM 14C1

Holocene (recent to 10*103 yrs)

4

1

Tundra

Taiga

2

Holocene (recent to 10*103 yrs)

Sources of POM – ApproachLignin phenols POM 14C

Late Pleistocene(10-40*103 yrs)

How big is the contribution from taiga &tundra in exported POM?

How old is soil-derived POM from the Lena catchment?

Sampling locationsSampling locations

5

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

C/V

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

S/V

non-woody gymnosperm(e.g. needles)

woodyangiosperm

non-woody angiosperm(e.g. grasses, leaves)

woodygymnosperm

Lignin phenols – sources of POMSy

ringy

l/Van

illyl

Cinnamyl/Vanillyl

6Winterfeld et al., 2015a

Lignin phenols – sources of POM

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

C/V

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

S/V

non-woody gymnosperm(e.g. needles)

woodyangiosperm

non-woody angiosperm(e.g. grasses, leaves)

woodygymnosperm

~50% contribution from taiga and tundra

Syrin

gyl/V

anilly

l

Cinnamyl/Vanillyl

6Winterfeld et al., 2015a

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

C/V

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

S/V

non-woody gymnosperm(e.g. needles)

woodyangiosperm

non-woody angiosperm(e.g. grasses, leaves)

woodygymnosperm

Lignin phenols – sources of POMSy

ringy

l/Van

illyl

Cinnamyl/Vanillyl

7unpublished data

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

C/V

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

S/V

non-woody gymnosperm(e.g. needles)

woodyangiosperm

non-woody angiosperm(e.g. grasses, leaves)

woodygymnosperm

Lignin phenols – sources of POMSy

ringy

l/Van

illyl

Cinnamyl/Vanillyl

7unpublished data

coarse

fine

Lignin phenols – degradation

0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 4.0 4.4

Ad/Alvanillyl

0.0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

Ad/A

l syrin

gyl

Acid

/Ald

ehyd

e Syr

ingy

Acid/AldehydeVanillyl

8

moredegraded

more degraded

freshtissue

0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 4.0 4.4

Ad/Alvanillyl

0.0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

Ad/A

l syrin

gyl

8

Acid

/Ald

ehyd

e Syr

ingy

Acid/AldehydeVanillyl

0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 4.0 4.4

Ad/Alvanillyl

0.0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

Ad/A

l syrin

gyl

Acid/AldehydeVanillyl

Lignin phenols – degradation

more degraded

moredegraded

freshtissue

freshtissue

0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 4.0 4.4

Ad/Alvanillyl

0.0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

Ad/A

l syrin

gyl

8

Acid

/Ald

ehyd

e Syr

ingy

Acid/AldehydeVanillyl

0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 4.0 4.4

Ad/Alvanillyl

0.0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

Ad/A

l syrin

gyl

Acid/AldehydeVanillyl

Lignin phenols – degradation

more degraded

moredegraded

fine

coarse

freshtissue

freshtissue

POM ∆14C

4,050 yrs BP

780 yrs BP

1,730 yrs BP

2,800 yrs BP

5,500 yrs BP

14C age[years BP]

Laptev Sea

LenaDelta

LenaDelta

Laptev Sea

surface waterparticulate organic matter

surface sedimentparticulate organic matter

∆14C[‰]

1,250 yrs BP-150

14C age of POM

Winterfeld et al., 2015b 9

-36 -34 -32 -30 -28 -26 -24 -22 -2013

-1000

-800

-600

-400

-200

0

200

14

~1,730  yrs  BP

~4,050  yrs  BP

~7,300  yrs  BP

~18,420  yrs  BP~12,930  yrs  BP

1950  AD

14C age of POM∆1

4 C [‰

]

δ13C [‰]10

-36 -34 -32 -30 -28 -26 -24 -22 -2013

-1000

-800

-600

-400

-200

0

200

14

~1,730  yrs  BP

~4,050  yrs  BP

~7,300  yrs  BP

~18,420  yrs  BP~12,930  yrs  BP

1950  AD

14C age of POM∆1

4 C [‰

]

δ13C [‰]

~∆14CO2 2010

10

11

Take home messages

• ~50% contribution from taiga and tundra based on bulk data

1

• POM sources (Holocene vs. Pleistocene) and/or particle size/density influence lignin composition

2

• estimated ∆14C of soil derived POM reflects heterogeneity of permafrost soils in the catchment

Lignin phenols

POM 14C