Permafrost thaw has the potential to release ancient particulate and dissolved organic matter that had been stored for thousands of years. Previous studies have shown that dissolved organic matter from permafrost is very labile and can be used by heterotrophic microbes close to the thaw area. However, it is unknown if ancient particulate organic matter can also be utilized. This study aims to investigate whether arctic microbial communities (bacteria and Archaea) incorporate ancient organic matter potentially released from thawing permafrost into their biomass. We compare and contrast the radiocarbon signatures of microbial lipids and higher plant biomarkers (representing terrestrial organic matter) from five soil profiles and seven deltaic lake sediment cores from the Mackenzie River drainage basin, Arctic Canada. In the surface soils, modern to post-modern short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) ages indicate in situ microbial production, with differential rates of organic carbon (OC) cycling depending on soil moisture. In contrast, SCFA in deeper soils display millennial ages, which likely represent the microbial necromass preserved through mineral association. In deltaic lakes that are disconnected from the river, generally old SCFA suggests the uptake of pre-aged OC by bacteria. In perennially connected lakes, pre-aged SCFA could originate from in situ microbial uptake of old OC or from the Mackenzie River. Higher plant-derived long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) present older radiocarbon ages, reflecting mineral stabilization during either pre-aging in soils (for high closure lakes) or riverine transport (for no and low closure lakes). Archaeal lipids are younger than SCFA and LCFA in high closure lakes, and older in low and no closure lakes, mirroring bulk radiocarbon signatures due to their heterotrophic production. These radiocarbon signatures of bacterial biomarker lipids may therefore reflect microbial incorporation of ancient OC (e.g., derived from permafrost thaw) or exceptional preservation (e.g., through mineral stabilization). Hence, even in relatively high OC environments such as arctic aquatic ecosystems, microbes can rely on ancient OC for their growth.

The process of deglaciation in the Antarctic Peninsula region has large implications for the geomorphological and ecological dynamics of the ice-free environments. However, uncertainties still remain regarding the age of deglaciation in many coastal environments, as is the case in the South Shetland Islands. This study focuses on the Byers Peninsula, the largest ice-free area in this archipelago and the one with greatest biodiversity in Antarctica. A complete lacustrine sedimentary sequence was collected from five lakes distributed along a transect from the western coast to the Rotch Dome glacier front: Limnopolar, Chester, Escondido, Cerro Negro and Domo lakes. A multiple dating approach based on C-14, thermoluminescence and tephrochronology was applied to the cores in order to infer the Holocene environmental history and identify the deglaciation chronology in the Byers Peninsula. The onset of the deglaciation started during the Early Holocene in the western fringe of the Byers Peninsula according to the basal dating of Limnopolar Lake (ca. 8.3 cal. ky BP). Glacial retreat gradually exposed the highest parts of the Cerro Negro nunatak in the SE corner of Byers, where Cerro Negro Lake is located; this lake was glacier-free since at least 7.5 ky. During the Mid-Holocene the retreat of the Rotch Dome glacier cleared the central part of the Byers plateau of ice, and Escondido and Chester lakes formed at 6 cal. ky BP and 5.9 ky, respectively. The dating of the basal sediments of Domo Lake suggests that the deglaciation of the current ice-free easternmost part of the Byers Peninsula occurred before 1.8 cal. ky BP. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.