WERC graduate research assistant Ben Gaglioti discuss his work on stored organic carbon in arctic permafrost at the Feb. 3 WERC Friday Seminar Series.
Lake Sediments and Buried Soils as Historical Testimonies of Arctic Carbon Cycling
It is poorly understood how future climate change will affect stored organic carbon in arctic permafrost. Radiocarbon analysis of sediment archives from arctic lakes can tell us how permafrost carbon responded to past episodes of climate warming. I will present preliminary results from one such archive on the North Slope of Alaska and discussion my plans for future work on this subject. In addition, I will also present preliminary results from a permafrost exposure on the Titaluk River (North Slope). I will discuss how landscape information that is relevant to soil carbon dynamics, global climate change, and large mammal extinctions at the end of the ice age can be gleaned from this sediment record.
Courtesy Ben Gaglioti
Moss Campion (Silene acaulis) looking over the Cottongrass-filled Etivluk River valley on the North Slope of Alaska. Preliminary results suggest that permafrost carbon in this valley was vulnerable to rapid climate warming in the past.
Friday Seminar Series
- What:Lake Sediments and Buried Soils as Historical Testimonies of Arctic Carbon Cycling
- Who: Presenter Ben Gaglioti
- When: 3:30-4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb.3
- Where: 531 Duckering
Seminar schedule in PDF
