Biogeosciences, 16, 2573–2589, 2019 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2573-2019 © Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Shifting mineral and redox controls on carbon cycling in seasonally flooded mineral soils Rachelle E. LaCroix1, Malak M. Tfaily2, Menli McCreight1, Morris E. Jones1, Lesley Spokas1, and Marco Keiluweit1 1School of Earth & Sustainability and Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA 2Soil, Water and Environmental Science Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA Correspondence: Marco Keiluweit (
[email protected]) and Rachelle E. LaCroix (
[email protected]) Received: 4 October 2018 – Discussion started: 12 October 2018 Revised: 5 June 2019 – Accepted: 12 June 2019 – Published: 4 July 2019 Abstract. Although wetland soils represent a relatively small land soils, yet Feo had no predictive power in lowland soils. portion of the terrestrial landscape, they account for an esti- Instead, our model showed that Eh and oxalate-extractable Al mated 20 %–30 % of the global soil carbon (C) reservoir. C (Alo, a proxy of protective Al phases) became significantly stored in wetland soils that experience seasonal flooding is stronger predictors in the lowland soils. Combined, our re- likely the most vulnerable to increased severity and duration sults suggest that low redox potentials are the primary cause of droughts in response to climate change. Redox conditions, for C accumulation in seasonally flooded surface soils, likely plant root dynamics, and the abundance of protective mineral due to selective preservation of organic compounds under phases are well-established controls on soil C persistence, anaerobic conditions.