In 2018, an international research group bored for soil samples in three sites around the Isfjorden fjord in Svalbard, which is part of Norway. The same phenomenon was seen each boring site: mineral soil covered by a thin layer of organic matter. In other words, this layer contains a lot of carbon extracted from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

The research group headed by researcher Minna Valiranta from the University of Helsinki has given the name 'proto-peat' to such organic soil accumulations, which are composed mostly of moss formed in increasingly warm arctic climate conditions.

"It's not yet peat in the actual sense of the word, but you could say it's the starting point for the formation of peat," says Valiranta, who works at the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences. The research group also includes Teemu Juselius and Sanna Piilo, doctoral researchers under Valiranta's supervision.

Such proto-peat deposits elicit interest also internationally. Valiranta is involved in a larger project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), a British institution corresponding to the Academy of Finland.

This project investigates precisely the same phenomenon, that is, whether global warming has already led to the spread of peatland vegetation into the Arctic. This spread of vegetation is part of a more extensive phenomenon known as 'arctic greening', which commonly refers to increasing shrub growth in the Arctic, as vascular plants spread to regions previously barren.

"If this process that generates proto-peat occurs extensively, an unexpected carbon reservoir, or a plant community that mitigates climate change, may be in the process of establishing itself in the north. This reservoir has not been included in the modelling of ecosystems and the atmosphere, as it has traditionally been thought that no new peatlands are formed," Valiranta notes.

Climate-ecosystem models are continually evolving, and only recently have attempts been made to include the impact of peatlands in such models.

"You can say that the discovery of new carbon sinks brings into play a new component that must be considered in models to better predict the functioning of ecosystems in a warming climate," Valiranta says.

Research Report:Newly initiated carbon stock, organic soil accumulation patterns and main driving factors in the High Arctic Svalbard, Norway

Related Links
University of Helsinki
Beyond the Ice Age

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

First rays of sunlight for Sunrise III at the Arctic Circle
Gottingen, Germany (SPX) May 10, 2022
Approximately a month before it begins its research flight in the stratosphere, the balloon-borne solar observatory Sunrise III has looked at the Sun for the first time from its launch site at the Arctic Circle. In June, Sunrise III will take off from Esrange Space Center, the Swedish Space Agency's (SSC) balloon and rocket base in Kiruna (Sweden), and will climb to an altitude of about 35 kilometers. During its flight of several days, it will then take unique measurements of the Sun. In this way, ... read more