Mineral-bound organic carbon exposed by  hillslope thermokarst terrain: case study  in Cape Bounty, Canadian High Arctic

Thomas, Maxime; Fouché, Julien; Titeux, Hugues; Morelle, Charlotte; Bemelmans, Nathan; Lafrenière, Melissa J.; Heslop, Joanne K.; Opfergelt, Sophie

doi:10.5194/soil-12-633-2026

Articles | Volume 12, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-633-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-633-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 1

Original research article

| Highlight paper

|

18 May 2026

Original research article | Highlight paper |

| 18 May 2026

Mineral-bound organic carbon exposed by hillslope thermokarst terrain: case study in Cape Bounty, Canadian High Arctic

Maxime Thomas, Julien Fouché, Hugues Titeux, Charlotte Morelle, Nathan Bemelmans, Melissa J. Lafrenière, Joanne K. Heslop, and Sophie Opfergelt

Data sets

Mineral-bound organic carbon exposed by hillslope thermokarst terrain: case study in Cape Bounty, Canadian High Arctic, V1 Maxime Thomas et al. https://doi.org/10.14428/DVN/5O6FJ3

Editorial statement

The study unveils stabilization and destabilization processes of soil organic carbon under thawing, in a hotspot of climate change impact, the Arctic. It shows deep thawing could expose organic carbon more readily accessible to degradation. This could result in a positive feedback loop, further enhancing greenhouse gas emissions and aggravating global warming.

Short summary

This study examines organic carbon (OC)–mineral interactions in permafrost soils undergoing thermokarst degradation in Cape Bounty (Melville Island, Canada). Chemically stabilized OC accounts for 13 ± 5 % as organo-metallic complexes and 6 ± 2 % as associations with iron oxides. Including physical protection, up to 64 ± 10 % of OC is mineral-protected. Deeper layers show a sharp decline in mineral-bound OC, suggesting increased vulnerability to degradation when exposed by deep thaw features.