Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 06:22
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Carbon Balance in Warming and Drying Tundra 2013

Mr. Lane- Our botany class was wondering how the carbon emissions are relating to the emissions from last year. Also we wanted to let you know that Mr. Duling is a pretty cool dude and he actually knows how to teach(:

  • Mikayla S, Lyndsay P, Clay G
Wed, 04/03/2013 - 12:25

Anonymous

Hello Mr. Lane,re: April 3, what would a carbon sample indicate about your age on this date as compared to vegetative growth underfoot?

Thu, 04/04/2013 - 11:33

Tom Lane

I guess I need some clarification regarding your question. Are you wondering whether the amount of C-14 is absorbed at different rates depending upon the organism?

Fri, 04/05/2013 - 08:32

Anonymous

That is a very good question, Mr. Lane. Carbon is carbon, and the gist of carbon-dating depends reliably on half-life of isotope formation rates. Is that correct?
[
[How does the plundering of underground oil deposits as supposedly 'judicious stewardship' of our non-renewable sources of energy correlate with 'layers of earth' associated specifically derived from an age of dinosaurs? Or, were there different ages of dinosaurs?]
Are you using the carbon content of the permafrost? What is in permafrost? What is the source of carbon? Isn't Healy very close to Denali, and aren't those mountains considerably younger than other less jagged peaks? Is permafrost just ice? Are there different layers of permafrost?
Is the underground depth of the vegetation (found in permafrost) a 'constant' in this scientific endeavor (as compared to estimated age of fossil findings?) What are the parameters of this relationship, if it exists? Is this 'constant' only particular to Healy, the area of study, or does it depend on elevation, ocean depth, etc.?
Thank you, Mr. Lane, for your assistance in helping to understand this fascinating project.

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 21:54

Tom Lane

The experiment(s) being conducted at CiPEHR (Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research) with which I am associated with involve heating the soil 2-3 degrees in an effort to understand what happens to soil, associated vegetation and permafrost under these conditions. This is related to climate change. In modeling the effects of increased CO2 in our atmosphere it is apparent that one of these effects is an increase in atmospheric as well as ground temperatures globally. This temperature rise is more pronounced in the far northern and southern hemispheres. Understanding how this increase in temperatures may effect vegetation, soils and permafrost is important.Regarding the age of the carbon emitted at CiPEHR, we tested for that today by trapping and collecting carbon. We will then send this to a lab to be radio-metrically dated. Permafrost is subsurface soil that remains frozen year around due to consistently low ambient temperatures. It can be a few feet to thousands of feet in depth and includes rocks, soils, vegetative matter, bones, etc.
The CiPEHR site at Healy was chosen due to the amount and depth of permafrost, slope, type of vegetative cover and accessibility.