Organic carbon stocks in permafrost-affected soils from Admiralty Bay, Antarctica

Recent works show that organic matter accumulation in some soils from coastal Antarctica is higher than
previously expected. The objective of the present work was to estimate the organic C stocks for soils from maritime
Antarctica. Cryosols from subpolar desert landscapes presented the lowest organic C stocks. Ornithogenic soils are the
most important C reservoirs in terrestrial ecosystems in this part of Antarctica. Although these soils correspond to only
2.5 % of the ice-free areas at Admiralty Bay, they contain approximately 20 % of the estimated C stock. Most of the
organic C in the studied soils is stored in the active layer but in some cases the C is also stored in the permafrost.