Mineral Element Stocks in the Yedoma Domain: A Novel Method Applied to Ice-Rich Permafrost Regions

With permafrost thaw, significant amounts of organic carbon (OC) previously stored in frozen deposits are unlocked and become potentially available for microbial mineralization. This is particularly the case ice-rich regions such as Yedoma domain. Excess ground ice degradation exposes deep sediments their OC stocks, but also mineral elements, to biogeochemical processes. Interactions elements play a crucial role stabilization fate upon thus regulate dioxide methane emissions. In addition, some limiting nutrients plant growth or metabolic activity. A large ongoing effort quantify stocks lability regions, influence on nutrient cycles has received less attention there an overall lack element content analyses sediments. Here, we combine portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) with bootstrapping technique provide i) first large-scale domain Mineral Concentrations Assessment (YMCA) dataset, ii) estimates never thawed (since deposition) partly refrozen Alas deposits. The pXRF method quantification non-destructive offers complement classical dissolution measurement by optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) solution. Using this method, concentrations (Si, Al, Fe, Ca, K, Ti, Mn, Zn, Sr Zr) were assessed 1,292 sediment samples from lower analytical costs relative ICP-OES method. measured calibrated using alkaline fusion measurements subset 144 ( R 2 0.725 0.996). results highlight that stock (1,387,000 km ) higher Si, followed Zr, Sr, Al Fe (598 ± 213 288 104 Gt) same order magnitude (327–466 Gt).