Premium
Abiotic CO 2 uptake from the atmosphere by semiarid desert soil and its partitioning into soil phases
Author(s) -
Liu Jiabin,
Fa Keyu,
Zhang Yuqing,
Wu Bin,
Qin Shugao,
Jia Xin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl064689
Subject(s) - soil water , atmosphere (unit) , sink (geography) , environmental science , environmental chemistry , abiotic component , carbon dioxide , carbon sink , flux (metallurgy) , soil carbon , carbon fibers , atmospheric sciences , soil science , chemistry , ecosystem , materials science , geology , ecology , biology , meteorology , physics , cartography , organic chemistry , composite material , composite number , geography
Deserts may show strong downward CO 2 fluxes and thus could be a significant carbon sink. However, this hypothesis has been strongly challenged because of the failure to determine both the reliability of flux measurements and the exact location of fixed carbon. In this study, we added 13 CO 2 to natural (unsterilized) soil in the Mu Us Desert in northern China and quantified the partitioning of added 13 CO 2 into soil solid and vapor phases. Results show that natural desert soil absorbed 13 CO 2 at a mean rate of 0.28 g m −2 d −1 . Of the absorbed 13 CO 2 , 7.1% was released over a 48 h period after 13 CO 2 feeding, 72.8% was stored in the soil solid phase, 0.0007% was found in the vapor phase, while 20.0% of the absorbed 13 CO 2 was undetected. These results indicate that undisturbed desert soils can absorb CO 2 from the atmosphere, with the majority of fixed carbon conserved in the soil solid phase.