2006/01/01 by Manfred Bölter, Bölter, M., Hans‐Peter Blume +3
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Climate change and permafrost #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
paper · pdf · doi:10.2312/polarforschung.73.2-3.89
vast continental mass of Siberia and the archipelago of northern Canada.The most important feature of the soils in our study is permafrost.About 40 % of the Canadian landmass is influenced by it, 30 % located in the arctic region (BLISS 1997).Many permafrost soils contain a relatively high content of organic matter.This results from harsh weather conditions, short growing seasons, strong light and continuous freeze-thaw and dry-wet cycles, which lead to a decoupling of production and decomposition that results in high residual carbon content (BAT-JES 1996, BLUME et al. 1996, MICHAELSON et al. 1996).Most recent reviews on these soils have been compiled in KIMBLE (2004).Soil development and soil biology are closely related to each other because of environmental constraints.Harsh climate conditions impose various stress factors on the living world in the arctic region; the frequent freeze-thaw cycles and drywet situations influence physical and chemical processes of weathering.The islands of northern Canada receive minimal precipitation, making them polar (biological) deserts or semideserts.Such landscapes are typical for the high-arctic Queen Elizabeth Islands (BLISS 1981), which show mainly poor soil development (EVERETT et al. 1981).Elevated landscapes are all but barren with no significant plant biomass.Other places, like the oases of more southern regions, are filled with a rich plant life and have animal populations.The tundra, which covers nearly 20 % of both northern continents, was the focus of two expeditions of the Swedish Arctic Council.The first cruise visited the Siberian realm in 1996 (GRNLUND & MELANDER 1994), the second in 1999 went to the Canadian territories Nunavut and the Northwest Territories (TNW-99).General aspects of the region, the locations and sampling sites are given by ERIKSEN et al. (2006).This paper describes the localities and the dry to mesic sites in more detail with emphasis on soil characteristics after FAO / ISRIC (1990), and the two major soil taxonomies: the US Soil Taxonomy (SOIL SURVEY STAFF 1999) and that of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) (ISSS-FAO-ISRIC 1998).TARNOCAI ( 2004) published a set of data from stations close to those of TNW-99, which he visited on earlier expeditions.The sites located closest are referred to in more detail below in chapters Results / Discussion.Further, we apply a soil ecological rating according to SCHLICHTING et al. (1995) and adapted to polar soils (BLTER & BLUME 2002, BLUME & BLTER 2004).89