Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y
(2019) In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116(11). p.4822-4827- Abstract
Glacial-interglacial variations in CO
2
and methane in polar ice cores have been attributed, in part, to changes in global wetland extent, but the wetland distribution before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21 ka to 18 ka) remains virtually unknown. We present a study of global peatland extent and carbon (C) stocks through the last glacial cycle (130 ka to present) using a newly compiled database of 1,063 detailed stratigraphic records of peat deposits buried by mineral sediments, as well as a global peatland model. Quantitative agreement... (More)
(Less)
Glacial-interglacial variations in CO
2
and methane in polar ice cores have been attributed, in part, to changes in global wetland extent, but the wetland distribution before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21 ka to 18 ka) remains virtually unknown. We present a study of global peatland extent and carbon (C) stocks through the last glacial cycle (130 ka to present) using a newly compiled database of 1,063 detailed stratigraphic records of peat deposits buried by mineral sediments, as well as a global peatland model. Quantitative agreement between modeling and observations shows extensive peat accumulation before the LGM in northern latitudes (>40
°
N), particularly during warmer periods including the last interglacial (130 ka to 116 ka, MIS 5e) and the interstadial (57 ka to 29 ka, MIS 3). During cooling periods of glacial advance and permafrost formation, the burial of northern peatlands by glaciers and mineral sediments decreased active peatland extent, thickness, and modeled C stocks by 70 to 90% from warmer times. Tropical peatland extent and C stocks show little temporal variation throughout the study period. While the increased burial of northern peats was correlated with cooling periods, the burial of tropical peat was predominately driven by changes in sea level and regional hydrology. Peat burial by mineral sediments represents a mechanism for long-term terrestrial C storage in the Earth system. These results show that northern peatlands accumulate significant C stocks during warmer times, indicating their potential for C sequestration during the warming Anthropocene.
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Carbon, Carbon burial, Methane, Peatlands, Quaternary
- in
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- volume
- 116
- issue
- 11
- pages
- 6 pages
- publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:30804186
- scopus:85062870461
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.1813305116
- project
- Glacial history of northern Sweden
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f3debbbc-d55e-4d3e-9565-0daa62e1bb66
- date added to LUP
- 2019-04-01 09:11:31
- date last changed
- 2024-04-16 02:57:46
@article{f3debbbc-d55e-4d3e-9565-0daa62e1bb66,
abstract = {{<p><br>
Glacial-interglacial variations in CO <br>
<sub>2</sub><br>
and methane in polar ice cores have been attributed, in part, to changes in global wetland extent, but the wetland distribution before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21 ka to 18 ka) remains virtually unknown. We present a study of global peatland extent and carbon (C) stocks through the last glacial cycle (130 ka to present) using a newly compiled database of 1,063 detailed stratigraphic records of peat deposits buried by mineral sediments, as well as a global peatland model. Quantitative agreement between modeling and observations shows extensive peat accumulation before the LGM in northern latitudes (>40 <br>
<sup>°</sup><br>
N), particularly during warmer periods including the last interglacial (130 ka to 116 ka, MIS 5e) and the interstadial (57 ka to 29 ka, MIS 3). During cooling periods of glacial advance and permafrost formation, the burial of northern peatlands by glaciers and mineral sediments decreased active peatland extent, thickness, and modeled C stocks by 70 to 90% from warmer times. Tropical peatland extent and C stocks show little temporal variation throughout the study period. While the increased burial of northern peats was correlated with cooling periods, the burial of tropical peat was predominately driven by changes in sea level and regional hydrology. Peat burial by mineral sediments represents a mechanism for long-term terrestrial C storage in the Earth system. These results show that northern peatlands accumulate significant C stocks during warmer times, indicating their potential for C sequestration during the warming Anthropocene. <br>
</p>}},
author = {{Treat, Claire C. and Kleinen, Thomas and Broothaerts, Nils and Dalton, April S. and Dommaine, René and Douglas, Thomas A. and Drexler, Judith Z. and Finkelstein, Sarah A. and Grosse, Guido and Hope, Geoffrey and Hutchings, Jack and Jones, Miriam C. and Kuhry, Peter and Lacourse, Terri and Lähteenoja, Outi and Loisel, Julie and Notebaert, Bastiaan and Payne, R. J. and Peteet, Dorothy M. and Sannel, A. Britta K. and Stelling, Jonathan M. and Strauss, Jens and Swindles, Graeme T. and Talbot, Julie and Tarnocai, Charles and Verstraeten, Gert and Williams, Christopher J. and Xia, Zhengyu and Yu, Zicheng and Väliranta, Minna and Hättestrand, Martina and Alexanderson, Helena and Brovkin, Victor}},
issn = {{0027-8424}},
keywords = {{Carbon; Carbon burial; Methane; Peatlands; Quaternary}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{11}},
pages = {{4822--4827}},
publisher = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
series = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
title = {{Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1813305116}},
doi = {{10.1073/pnas.1813305116}},
volume = {{116}},
year = {{2019}},
}