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Updated: May 31, 2026

Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside
Published on: July 3, 2016
Large stocks of permafrost soil organic carbon and nitrogen in Arctic river deltas
Matthias Fuchs1,2,3, Torsten Sachs4,5, Loeka L Jongejans6,7
1Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA. matthias.fuchs@colorado.edu.
Abstract:
Arctic deltas are highly dynamic environments at the land-ocean interface that have acted as long-term sinks of sediment, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N). Climate impacts Arctic deltas and their upstream catchments through sea-level rise, altered river discharge, increased sediment fluxes, intensified biogeochemical cycling, and permafrost thaw. As a result, soil C and N in Arctic delta deposits are becoming more bioavailable. Here, we present a C and N inventory for Arctic delta compiled from over 1600 soil samples spanning 17 river deltas. We estimate that Arctic delta deposits store 57.5 ( + 9.2/-8.2) Pg C and 3.8 ( + 0.8/-0.7) Pg N across a combined area of nearly 100,000 km², representing large and potentially vulnerable biogeochemical pools. Our findings underscore the potentially pivotal role of Arctic deltas in the pan-Arctic carbon cycle and highlight their importance as dynamic zones of both C and N storage and release in a rapidly changing Arctic.
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