Abstract
Antarctica can be divided into nine ice-free regions. Only 0.35 % of the continent is ice-free, amounting to 49,500 km2. Profile quantities of soil organic carbon (SOC) determined on a mass per area basis are greatest along the Antarctic Peninsula, intermediate in East Antarctica, and lowest in the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs). Sea-birds input very large quantities of manure in terrestrial environments and are the dominant factor influencing SOC levels in Antarctic soils. In the McMurdo Dry Valleys, profile quantities of SOC are related to proximity to water sources. From chronosequence studies, the amounts of SOC in the TAMs peak in about 2 kyr and decline thereafter but SOC storage in soils of the Antarctic Peninsula continue to rise after 8 kyr. Because of a dramatically warming climate, the ice-free area of Antarctica is increasing and there is evidence that the soils may be acting as a sink rather than a source for atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arenz BE, Blanchette RA (2011) Distribution and abundance of soil fungi in Antarctica at sites on the Peninsula, Ross Sea region and McMurdo Dry Valleys. Soil Biol Biochem 43:308–315
Ayres E, Wall DH, Adams BJ, Barrett JE, Virginia RA (2007) Unique similarity of faunal communities across aquatic-terrestrial interfaces in a polar desert ecosystem. Ecosystems 10:523–535
Beilke AJ, Bockheim JG (2013) Carbon and nitrogen trends in soil chronosequences of the Transantarctic Mountains. Geoderma 197:117–125
Beyer L (2000) Properties, formation, and geo-ecological significance of organic soils in the coastal region of East Antarctica (Wilkes Land). Catena 39:79–93
Beyer L, Pingpank K, Wriedt G, Bolter M (2000) Soil formation in coastal continental Antarctica. Geoderma 95:283–304
Bockheim JG, Vieira G, Ramos M, López-Martínez J, Serrano E, Guglielmin M, Wilhelm K, Nieuwendam A (2013) Climate warming and permafrost dynamics in the Antarctic Peninsula region. Glob Planet Change 100:215–223
Burkins MB, Virginia RA, Chamberlain CP, Wall DH (2000) Origin and distribution of soil organic matter in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Ecology 81:2377–2391
Claridge GGC, Campbell IB, Sheppard DS (2000) Carbon pools in Antarctica and their significance for global climate change. In: Lal R, Kimble JM, Stewart BA (eds) Global climate change and cold regions ecosystems. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, pp 59–103
Day TA, Ruhland CT, Xiong FS (2008) Warming increases aboveground plant biomass and C stocks in vascular-plant-dominated Antarctic tundra. Glob Change Biol 14:1827–1843
Hofstee EH, Balks M, Petchey F, Campbell DI (2006) Soils of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Antarctic Sci 18:473–486
Myrcha A, Tatur A (1991) Ecological role of the current and abandoned penguin rookeries in the land environment of the maritime Antarctic. Pol Polar Res 12:3–24
Park J-H, Day TA, Strauss S, Ruhland CT (2007) Biogeochemical pools and fluxes of carbon and nitrogen in a maritime tundra near penguin colonies along the Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 30:199–207
Pietr S, Tatur A, Myrcha A (1983) Mineralization of penguin excrements in the Admiralty Bay region (King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Pol Polar Res 4:97–112
Soil Survey Division Staff (2013) Soil laboratory data. USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service. [Online WWW]. Available URL. http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov
Strauss SL, Ruhland CT, Day TA (2009) Trends in soil characteristics along a recently deglaciated foreland on Anvers Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 32:1779–1788
Zhu R, Liu Y, Ma E, Sun J, Hua X, Sun L (2009) Nutrient compositions and potential greenhouse gas production in penguin guano, ornithogenic soils and sea colony soils in coastal Antarctica. Antarctic Sci 21:427–438
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by the U.S.A. National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs, Antarctic Sciences, grant OPP-0943799.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bockheim, J.G., Haus, N.W. (2014). Distribution of Organic Carbon in the Soils of Antarctica. In: Hartemink, A., McSweeney, K. (eds) Soil Carbon. Progress in Soil Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04084-4_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04084-4_37
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-04083-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04084-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)