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Helena Alexandersson

Helena Alexanderson

Professor

Helena Alexandersson

Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y

Author

  • Claire C. Treat
  • Thomas Kleinen
  • Nils Broothaerts
  • April S. Dalton
  • René Dommaine
  • Thomas A. Douglas
  • Judith Z. Drexler
  • Sarah A. Finkelstein
  • Guido Grosse
  • Geoffrey Hope
  • Jack Hutchings
  • Miriam C. Jones
  • Peter Kuhry
  • Terri Lacourse
  • Outi Lähteenoja
  • Julie Loisel
  • Bastiaan Notebaert
  • R. J. Payne
  • Dorothy M. Peteet
  • A. Britta K. Sannel
  • Jonathan M. Stelling
  • Jens Strauss
  • Graeme T. Swindles
  • Julie Talbot
  • Charles Tarnocai
  • Gert Verstraeten
  • Christopher J. Williams
  • Zhengyu Xia
  • Zicheng Yu
  • Minna Väliranta
  • Martina Hättestrand
  • Helena Alexanderson
  • Victor Brovkin
Show all

Summary, in English


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.

Department/s

  • Quaternary Sciences

Publishing year

2019

Language

English

Pages

4822-4827

Publication/Series

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume

116

Issue

11

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences

Topic

  • Geology

Keywords

  • Carbon
  • Carbon burial
  • Methane
  • Peatlands
  • Quaternary

Status

Published

Project

  • Glacial history of northern Sweden

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0027-8424