36Cl, a new tool to assess soil carbon dynamics

36Cl, a new tool to assess soil carbon dynamics

Soil organic carbon is one of the largest surface pools of carbon that humans can manage in order to partially mitigate annual anthropogenic CO 2 emissions. A significant element to assess soil sequestration potential is the carbon age, which is evaluated by modelling or experimentally using carbon...

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Published in:Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 15085 - 9
Main Authors: Grapeloup, Cécile, Cornu, Sophie, Giraud, Xavier, Pupier, Julie, Team, Aster, Guillou, Valery, Ciffroy, Philippe, Cabana, Beatriz Lourino, Couegnas, Cécile, Hatté, Christine, Benedetti, Lucilla
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12-09-2023
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
704/172/4081
704/47/4113
Age
Anthropogenic factors
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide emissions
Carbon isotopes
Chlorine
Continental interfaces, environment
Emissions
Humanities and Social Sciences
Isotopes
multidisciplinary
Ocean, Atmosphere
Organic carbon
Organic matter
Organic soils
Retention
Retention time
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sciences of the Universe
Soil dynamics
Soil organic matter
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Summary:Soil organic carbon is one of the largest surface pools of carbon that humans can manage in order to partially mitigate annual anthropogenic CO 2 emissions. A significant element to assess soil sequestration potential is the carbon age, which is evaluated by modelling or experimentally using carbon isotopes. Results, however, are not consistent. The 14 C derived approach seems to overestimate by a factor of 6–10 the average carbon age in soils estimated by modeling and 13 C approaches and thus the sequestration potential. A fully independent method is needed. The cosmogenic chlorine nuclide, 36 Cl, is a potential alternative. 36 Cl is a naturally occurring cosmogenic radionuclide with a production that increased by three orders of magnitude during nuclear bomb tests. Part of this production is retained by soil organic matter in organochloride form and hence acts as a tracer of the fate of soil organic carbon. We here quantify the fraction and the duration of 36 Cl retained in the soil and we show that retention time increases with depth from 20 to 322 years, in agreement with both modelling and 13 C-derived estimates. This work demonstrates that 36 Cl retention duration can be a proxy for the age of soil organic carbon.
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-41555-x