HR: 1340h
AN: C13B-0276    [Abstracts]
TI: Soils, Permafrost, Fires and Climate Change Impacts
AU: * Kimble, J M
EM: john.kimble@usda.gov
AF: USDA-NRCS, Fed. Bldg. Room 152, MS 34 100 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln, NE 68506-3866 United States
AU: Everett, L
EM: everett.2@osu.edu
AF: The Ohio State University, Byrd Polar Research Center 108 Scott Hall 1090 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1002 United States
AU: Ping, C
EM: pfclp@uaa.alaska.edu
AF: Universtiy of Alaska Fairbanks, Palmer Research Center 533 E. Fireweed Avenue, Palmer, AK 99645 United States
AB: One of the main soil forming factors is climate and in a world that is facing a changing climate in what many refer to as the Antropocene Era humans have gone from having no significant impact on the climate to an era where they may be one of the major drivers. Many of the Global Climate Models (GCMs) suggest the greatest change in temperature will occur at the high latitudes and this is expected to have a major impact on the soils and the permafrost within these regions. This summer Alaska had more fires than in recent history resulting in the largest number of acres ever burned. With regards to soils the hottest fires were on sandy soils where the organic layer was the driest. As the climate warms the organic layer even on areas with permafrost close to the surface will dry more and the intensity of fires will increase in larger and larger areas. Fire has always been part of the natural ecosystem in Alaska but more intensive fires over larger areas may well have a negative impact on the soils and the underlying permafrost. The organic layer is the insulation that helps maintain the permafrost. Once there is a burn the active layer goes deeper. In an area burned in June 2004 and sampled in August 2004 the difference in the active layer was very evident, in the burned area the active layer was about 70 cm and in an adjacent unburned area the active layer was only about 30 cm. Soils (Pedosphere) are where the Cryosphere meets the other spheres, they are the area that will be immediately susceptible to change and changes to the soils will have a major impact on the Cryosphere.
DE: 3309 Climatology (1620)
DE: 1699 General or miscellaneous
DE: 1866 Soil moisture
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting