Soil data and age models used to investigate the effects of permafrost thaw on carbon storage, Interior Alaska

We quantified permafrost plateau carbon (C) and post-thaw C stocks across a peatland permafrost thaw chronosequence in Interior Alaska to evaluate whether C losses occurred with thaw . Peat core macrofossil reconstructions revealed three stratigraphic layers of peat: (1) a base layer of fen/marsh peat, (2) forested permafrost plateau peat and, (3) where permafrost thaw has occurred, collapse-scar bog peat. Radiocarbon dating revealed that peat initiated at all sites within the last 2,500 years, and dating transitions between stratigraphic layers allowed us to determine that permafrost aggraded during the Little Ice Age and degraded within the last several decades. We found the timing of permafrost thaw within each feature was not related [...]