Peatland initiation and carbon accumulation in the Falkland Islands

TY - JOUR

T1 - Peatland initiation and carbon accumulation in the Falkland Islands

AU - Payne, Richard J.

AU - Ring-Hrubesh, Fin

AU - Rush, Graham

AU - Sloan, Thomas J.

AU - Evans, Chris D.

AU - Mauquoy, Dmitri

N1 - ©2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.

PY - 2019/3/28

Y1 - 2019/3/28

N2 - The Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean contain extensive peatlands at the edge of their global climatic envelope, but the long-term carbon dynamics of these sites is poorly quantified. We present new data for ten sites, compile previously-published data and produce a new synthesis. Many peatlands in the Falkland Islands developed notably early, with a fifth of basal 14 C dates pre-Holocene. Falkland Islands peats have high ash content, high carbon content and high bulk density compared to global norms. In many sites carbon accumulation rates are extremely low, which may partly relate to low average rainfall, or to carbon loss through burning and aeolian processes. However, in coastal Tussac peatlands carbon accumulation can be extremely rapid. Our re-analysis of published data from Beauchene Island, the southernmost of the Falkland Islands, yields an exceptional long-term apparent carbon accumulation rate of 139 g C m −2 yr −1 , to our knowledge the highest recorded for any global peatland. This high accumulation might relate to the combination of a long growing-season and marine nutrient inputs. Given extensive coverage and carbon-dense peats the carbon stock of Falkland Islands peatlands is clearly considerable but robust quantification will require the development of a reliable peat map. Falkland Island peatlands challenge many standard assumptions and deserve more detailed study.

AB - The Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean contain extensive peatlands at the edge of their global climatic envelope, but the long-term carbon dynamics of these sites is poorly quantified. We present new data for ten sites, compile previously-published data and produce a new synthesis. Many peatlands in the Falkland Islands developed notably early, with a fifth of basal 14 C dates pre-Holocene. Falkland Islands peats have high ash content, high carbon content and high bulk density compared to global norms. In many sites carbon accumulation rates are extremely low, which may partly relate to low average rainfall, or to carbon loss through burning and aeolian processes. However, in coastal Tussac peatlands carbon accumulation can be extremely rapid. Our re-analysis of published data from Beauchene Island, the southernmost of the Falkland Islands, yields an exceptional long-term apparent carbon accumulation rate of 139 g C m −2 yr −1 , to our knowledge the highest recorded for any global peatland. This high accumulation might relate to the combination of a long growing-season and marine nutrient inputs. Given extensive coverage and carbon-dense peats the carbon stock of Falkland Islands peatlands is clearly considerable but robust quantification will require the development of a reliable peat map. Falkland Island peatlands challenge many standard assumptions and deserve more detailed study.

KW - Bog

KW - Carbon accumulation

KW - Holocene

KW - Peat

KW - South Atlantic

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063379788&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.022

DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.022

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85063379788

SN - 0277-3791

JO - Quaternary Science Reviews

JF - Quaternary Science Reviews

ER -