Peatlands of the Western Siberian lowlands: Current knowledge on zonation, carbon content and Late Quaternary history

The Western Siberian lowlands (WSL) are the world\u27s largest high-latitude wetland, and possess over 900,000 km2 of peatlands. The peatlands of the WSL are of major importance to high-latitude hydrology, carbon storage and environmental history. Analysis of the existing Russian data suggests that the mean depth of peat accumulation in the WSL is 256 cm and the total amount of carbon stored there may exceed 53,836 million metric tons. A synthesis of published and unpublished radiocarbon dates indicates that the peatlands first developed at the end of the Last Glacial, with a rapid phase of initiation between 11,000 and 10,000 cal yr BP. Initiation slowed after 8000 cal yr BP and reached a nadir at 4000 cal yr BP. There has been renewed initiation, particularly south of 62°N, following 4000 cal yr BP. The initial development of peatlands in the WSL corresponds with the warming at the close of the Pleistocene. Cooling after 4000 Cal yr BP has likely led to increased permafrost and increased peatland development particularly in central and southern regions. Cold and dry conditions in the far north may have inhibited peatland formation in the late Holocene. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Influence of permafrost on water storage in West Siberian peatlands revealed from a new database of soil properties

Russia\u27s West Siberian Lowland (WSL) contains the most extensive peatlands on Earth with many underlain by permafrost. We present a new database of 12 705 measurements of vertical water content and bulk soil properties from 98 permafrost and non‐permafrost cores collected in raised bogs and peat plateaus across the region, together with in‐situ measurements of surface moisture and thaw depth, botanical descriptions of dominant surface vegetation species assemblage, and field notes. Data analyses reveal significant contrasts (p \u3c 0.01 to p \u3c 0.0001) between permafrost and non‐permafrost sites. On average, permafrost WSL peatlands exhibit drier surfaces, shallower depth, lower organic matter content and higher bulk density than do non‐permafrost sites. Peat bulk density and ash‐free density increase with depth for non‐permafrost but not for permafrost sites. Gravimetric water content averages 92.0% near the surface and 89.3% at depth in non‐permafrost, but 81.6% and 85.4%, respectively, in permafrost, suggesting that the disappearance of permafrost could produce moister surfaces across the WSL. GIS extrapolation of these results suggests that WSL peatlands may contain ~1200 km3 of water and ice, a large storage equivalent to ~2‐m average liquid water depth and approximately three times the total annual flow in the Ob\u27 River. A global estimate of ~6900‐km3 subsurface water storage for all northern peatlands suggests a volume comparable to or greater than the total water storage in northern lakes. The database is freely available as supplementary material for scientific use at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppp.735/suppinfo. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

A high-resolution GIS-based inventory of the west Siberian peat carbon pool

The West Siberian Lowland (WSL) contains the world\u27s most extensive peatlands and a substantial fraction of the global terrestrial carbon pool. Despite its recognition as a carbon reservoir of great significance, the extent, thickness, and carbon content of WSL peatlands have not been analyzed in detail. This paper compiles a wide array of data into a geographic information system (GIS) to create a high-resolution, spatially explicit digital inventory of all WSL peatlands and their associated physical properties. Detailed measurements for nearly 10,000 individual peatlands (patches) are based on compilation of previously unpublished Russian field and ancillary map data, satellite imagery, previously published depth measurements, and our own field depth and core measurements taken throughout the region during field campaigns in 1999, 2000, and 2001. At the patch level, carbon storage is estimated as the product of peatland area, depth, and carbon content. Estimates of peatland area are validated from RESURS-01 satellite images, and the quality of the Russian peatland depth and carbon content data is independently confirmed by laboratory analysis of core samples. Through GIS-based spatial analysis of the peat areal extent, depth, and carbon content data, we conservatively estimate the total area of WSL peatlands at 592,440 km2, the total peat mass at 147.82 Pg, and the total carbon pool at 70.21 Pg C. Our analysis concludes that WSL peatlands are more extensive and represent a substantially larger carbon pool than previously thought: Previous studies report 9,440-273,440 km2 less peatland area and 15.11-30.19 Pg less carbon than found in this analysis. The complete digital database is freely available for scientific use at http://arcss.colorado.edu/data/arcss131.html. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union

Siberian Peatlands a Net Carbon Sink and Global Methane Source since the Early Holocene

Interpolar methane gradient (IPG) data from ice cores suggest the switching on of a major Northern Hemisphere methane source in the early Holocene. Extensive data from Russia\u27s West Siberian Lowland show (i) explosive, widespread peatland establishment between 11.5 and 9 thousand years ago, predating comparable development in North America and synchronous with increased atmospheric methane concentrations and IPGs, (ii) larger carbon stocks than previously thought (70.2 Petagrams, up to ∼26% of all terrestrial carbon accumulated since the Last Glacial Maximum), and (iii) little evidence for catastrophic oxidation, suggesting the region represents a long-term carbon dioxide sink and global methane source since the early Holocene