Permafrost Thaw Dynamics Drive the Regime Shifts of Iron‐Bound Organic Carbon Sequestration in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Abstract In the changing Arctic, permafrost thaw is shifting from gradual to abrupt. Although iron‐bound organic carbon (OC‐Fe R ) critically modulates permafrost carbon‐climate feedbacks, its decadal‐scale variability and response to this regime shift remain poorly constrained. Focusing on the East Siberian Arctic, a hotspot of land‐to‐ocean permafrost carbon transfer, we established critical linkages between marine sedimentary OC‐Fe R burial records and terrestrial permafrost‐climate dynamics. Results revealed that coastal OC‐Fe R reservoirs exhibited temporally‐distinct responses to permafrost thawing dynamics. During the pre‐2000s, the progressive decline in OC‐Fe R coincided with watershed‐scale soil moisture redistribution driven by gradual active‐layer deepening, which preferentially retained OC‐Fe R in permafrost, attenuating its land‐to‐ocean fluxes. Since 2000s, although abrupt thaw has rapidly mobilized OC, ∼19% of sedimentary OC remained stabilized as OC‐Fe R , thus partially decoupling abrupt thaw from immediate permafrost carbon‐climate feedbacks. Therefore, this mineralogical buffering mechanism can attenuate the net climate impact of accelerating abrupt thaw across the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Published
2025-12-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl118350
Primary Topic
Climate change and permafrost
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Permafrost Thaw Dynamics Drive the Regime Shifts of Iron‐Bound Organic Carbon Sequestration in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Jiazong Du, Yuriy P. Vasilenko, А. С. Астахов, К. И. Аксентов et al.
Geophysical Research Letters
Climate change and permafrost
article

Permafrost Thaw Dynamics Drive the Regime Shifts of Iron‐Bound Organic Carbon Sequestration in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Jiazong Du, Yuriy P. Vasilenko, А. С. Астахов, К. И. Аксентов, Zenghui Yu, Zhaoyong She, Xuefa Shi, Fudong Lin, Limin Hu, Alexander Bosin
article en

Abstract

Abstract In the changing Arctic, permafrost thaw is shifting from gradual to abrupt. Although iron‐bound organic carbon (OC‐Fe R ) critically modulates permafrost carbon‐climate feedbacks, its decadal‐scale variability and response to this regime shift remain poorly constrained. Focusing on the East Siberian Arctic, a hotspot of land‐to‐ocean permafrost carbon transfer, we established critical linkages between marine sedimentary OC‐Fe R burial records and terrestrial permafrost‐climate dynamics. Results revealed that coastal OC‐Fe R reservoirs exhibited temporally‐distinct responses to permafrost thawing dynamics. During the pre‐2000s, the progressive decline in OC‐Fe R coincided with watershed‐scale soil moisture redistribution driven by gradual active‐layer deepening, which preferentially retained OC‐Fe R in permafrost, attenuating its land‐to‐ocean fluxes. Since 2000s, although abrupt thaw has rapidly mobilized OC, ∼19% of sedimentary OC remained stabilized as OC‐Fe R , thus partially decoupling abrupt thaw from immediate permafrost carbon‐climate feedbacks. Therefore, this mineralogical buffering mechanism can attenuate the net climate impact of accelerating abrupt thaw across the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere.

Geophysical Research LettersVol. 53(1)
Ministry of Natural Resources (CN), Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (CN), First Institute of Oceanography (CN), V.I. Il'ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute (RU), Ocean University of China (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 32%
Climate change and permafrost
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