More old carbon is draining away from water systems in the Arctic than previously thought, according to scientists in the UK and the Netherlands.
The researchers – who measured for the first time the radiocarbon content of aquatic carbon dioxide and dissolved organic carbon in headwaters of the western Canadian Arctic – believe that carbon originating from before 1750 comprises up to 37% of total fluxes.
The results hint at the existence of a permafrost carbon feedback, in which old carbon released into the atmosphere causes the melting of more permafrost and so the release of more old carbon, although the researchers say this would need to be confirmed in future studies. […]
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