Выпуск: 1 , Том: 47 , Год издания: 2015

This study describes and compares soil organic matter (SOM) quantity and characteristics in two areas of continuous permafrost, a mountainous region in NE Greenland (Zackenberg study site) and a lowland region in NE Siberia (Cherskiy and Shalaurovo study sites). Our assessments are based on stratified-random landscape-level inventories of soil profiles down to 1 m depth, with physico-chemical, elemental, and radiocarbon-dating analyses. The estimated mean soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in the upper meter of soils in the NE Greenland site is 8.3 ± 1.8 kg C m^(-2) compared to 20.3 ± 2.2 kg C m^(-2) and 30.0 ± 2.0 kg C m^(-2) in the NE Siberian sites (95% confidence intervals). The lower SOC storage in the High Arctic site in NE Greenland can be largely explained by the fact that 59% of the study area is located at higher elevation with mostly barren ground and thus very low SOC contents. In addition, SOC-rich fens and bogs occupy a much smaller proportion of the landscape in NE Greenland (similar to 3%) than in NE Siberia (similar to 20%). The contribution of deeper buried C-enriched material in the mineral soil horizons to the total SOC storage is lower in the NE Greenland site (similar to 13%) compared to the NE Siberian sites (similar to 24%-30%). Buried SOM seems generally more decomposed in NE Greenland than in NE Siberia, which we relate to different burial mechanisms prevailing in these regions.