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Soil Data for a Thermokarst Bog and the Surrounding Permafrost Plateau Forest, Located at Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Site, Interior Alaska

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Soil Data for a Thermokarst Bog and the Surrounding Permafrost Plateau Forest, Located at Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Site, Interior Alaska Soil Data for a Thermokarst Bog and the Surrounding Permafrost Plateau Forest, Located at Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Site, Interior Alaska By Kristen L. Manies, Christopher C. Fuller, Miriam C. Jones, Mark P. Waldrop, and John P. McGeehin Open-File Report 2016–1173 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior SALLY JEWELL, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2017 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit http://www.usgs.gov/ or call 1–888–ASK–USGS (1–888–275–8747). For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit https://store.usgs.gov. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Manies, K.L., Fuller, C.C., Jones, M.C., Waldrop, M.P., and McGeehin, J.P., 2017, Soil data for a thermokarst bog and the surrounding permafrost plateau forest, located at Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Site, Interior Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1173, 11 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161173. ISSN 2331-1258 (online) Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Site Description .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Soil Sampling ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Soil-Sample Preparation and Drying .............................................................................................................. 4 Soil Laboratory Methods ................................................................................................................................ 5 Total Carbon, Total Nitrogen, δ13C Measurements .................................................................................... 5 Radiocarbon Measurements ...................................................................................................................... 5 210Pb, 226Ra, and 137Cs Measurements ...................................................................................................... 6 Dataset Descriptions ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................... 7 References Cited ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Appendix 1. Data File Descriptions ................................................................................................................ 9 BZBT_Field ................................................................................................................................................ 9 BZBT_Physical ........................................................................................................................................ 10 BZBT_Chemistry ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Figures 1. Map showing the location of samples: cores 1–3, 5, 7, and 9 were taken from within the thermokarst bog; cores 4, 6, and 11 were taken from the surrounding forested permafrost plateau ............................ 2 2. Photograph showing sampling with the frozen finger ........................................................................ 3 Tables 1. Statistics of analyses for working standards run on the Carlo Erba 1500, from 2012 to 2014, the time during which these samples were run.......................................................................................................... 5 iii Conversion Factors International System of Units to U.S. customary units Multiply By To obtain Length centimeter (cm) 0.3937 inch (in.) millimeter (mm) 0.03937 inch (in.) meter (m) 3.281 foot (ft) meter (m) 1.094 yard (yd) Area square meter (m2) 10.76 square foot (ft2) Mass gram (g) 0.03527 ounce, avoirdupois (oz) kilogram (kg) 2.205 pound avoirdupois (lb) Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as °F = (1.8 × °C) + 32. Datum Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84). iv Soil Data for a Thermokarst Bog and the Surrounding Permafrost Plateau Forest, Located at Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Site, Interior Alaska By Kristen L. Manies, Christopher C. Fuller, Miriam C. Jones, Mark P. Waldrop, and John P. McGeehin Abstract Peatlands play an important role in boreal ecosystems, storing a large amount of soil organic carbon. In northern ecosystems, collapse-scar bogs (also known as thermokarst bogs) often form as the result of ground subsidence following permafrost thaw. To examine how ecosystem carbon balance changes with the loss of permafrost, we measured carbon and nitrogen storage within a thermokarst bog and the surrounding forest, which continues to have permafrost. These sites are a part of the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site and are located within Interior Alaska. Here, we report on methods used for core collection analysis as well as the cores’ physical, chemical, and descriptive properties. Introduction Boreal soils, including peatlands, contain the largest proportion of soil carbon, as compared to other regions around the world (Kasischke, 2000; Tarnocai and others, 2009), and, therefore, play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Interior Alaska, which is part of the boreal region, contains discontinuous permafrost and a variety of ecosystems, including forests (with and without permafrost) and peatlands (Gallant and others, 1995). These peatlands store nearly 30 percent of the soil organic carbon found within this region (Hugelius and others, 2014), owing to the high rates of carbonhttp://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/restaurants.html (C) inputs through plant production and low rates of C loss, which are due to waterlogged soils and low soil temperatures (Camill and others, 2001). Bogs are peatlands that receive all or most of their water from precipitation and, thus, are acidic and low in nutrients. Permafrost thaw causing ground subsidence is called thermokarst. Thermokarst bogs form as the result of thawing permafrost when ice-rich forests with permafrost thaw and the ground surface subsides. When this process results in inundation by water, thermokarst bogs are formed, and the surrounding raised forest are known as forested permafrost plateaus. To help compare C and nitrogen (N) stocks in a thermokarst bog and the surrounding forested permafrost plateau, we measured physical, chemical, and descriptive soil properties from cores taken from each of these ecosystem types. These measurements were taken as part of a larger study examining changes in C balance as a forested permafrost plateau becomes a thermokarst bog and which mechanisms may be responsible for C storage and loss (see, for example, Neumann and others, 2016). Site Description The thermokarst bog and forested permafrost plateau studied here are located approximately 30 km southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, near the Tanana River (fig. 1; lat 64.696° N., long 148.321° W.). These sites are a part of the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program’s network of sites. The forested permafrost plateau has an active layer (seasonally unfrozen) thickness that ranges between 50 and 90 cm (measured early October 2015). The majority of the trees are Picea mariana, although Larix laricina is found in open areas. The dominant understory vegetation is Vaccinium uliginosum, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Calamagrostis canadensis, Eriophorum spp., Rhododendron tomentosum, and mosses such as Polytrichum strictum, Hylocomium splendens, and Sphagnum fuscum. The thermokarst bogs are dominated by Sphagnum riparium with some Carex aquatilis, Carex chordorrhiza, and Vaccinium oxycoccos Linnaeus. It has actively thawing margins, as indicated by “drunken” trees and dead Picea mariana trees located within the thermokarst feature. CO2 and CH4 flux measurements have been made at both sites annually using eddy covariance towers (Euskirchen and others, 2014), static chambers (Wickland and others, 2006), and automatic chambers (Mark Waldrop, U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished data). Figure 1. Map showing the location of samples: cores 1–3, 5, 7, and 9 were taken from within the thermokarst bog; cores 4, 6, and 11 were taken from the surrounding forested permafrost plateau. Inset: The location of the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (BZ-LTER) within Alaska. The thermokarst
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