Alpine permafrost could account for a quarter of thawed carbon based on Plio-Pleistocene paleoclimate analogue.

ABSTRACT: Estimates of the permafrost-climate feedback vary in magnitude and sign, partly because permafrost carbon stability in warmer-than-present conditions is not well constrained. Here we use a Plio-Pleistocene lacustrine reconstruction of mean annual air temperature (MAAT) from the Tibetan Plateau, the largest alpine permafrost region on the Earth, to constrain past and future changes in permafrost carbon storage. Clumped isotope-temperatures (Δ₄₇-T) indicate warmer MAAT (~1.2 °C) prior to 2.7 Ma, and support a permafrost-free environment on the northern Tibetan Plateau in a warmer-than-present climate. Δ₄₇-T indicate ~8.1 °C cooling from 2.7 Ma, coincident with Northern Hemisphere glacial intensification. Combined with climate models and global permafrost distribution, t

SUBMITTER: Cheng F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8921200 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature