Fuchs, Matthias; Sachs, Torsten; Strauss, Jens; Jones, Benjamin M; Lenz, Josefine; Nitze, Ingmar; Grosse, Guido: Permafrost soil organic carbon and soil nitrogen data from the Noatak, Kobuk and Selawik river deltas in Northwestern Alaska [dataset bundled publication]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.967493 (dataset in review)

This data set describes the soil core and sample characteristics from soil cores collected in the Noatak (67.03 N; -162.45 E), Kobuk (66.79 N; -161.37 E), and Selawik (66.58 N; -160.06 E) river deltas in Northwest Alaska during the AWI PETA-CARB West-Alaska 2016 field campaign. The soil cores were collected in August 2016 with a SIPRE (Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment, Fairbanks, Alaska) auger (diameter 2 inch). Prior to collecting the frozen permafrost cores, active layer was excavated, described, and sampled with a knife and a fixed volume cylinder. This data set includes the information on 26 different soil profiles and cores down to a depth of 2 m, resulting in 348 samples. The data is separated into two different files. The first data file (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.967494) includes the sample characteristics including depth, volume, weight, water content, bulk density as well as measured total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and carbon to nitrogen ratio (CN). TOC was analyzed with a Vario Max C elemental analyzer and TN was analyzed with a Vario EL III elemental analyzer in laboratories at Alfred Wegener Institute Potsdam. Prior to analysis, samples were weighted, freeze-dried, homogenized, ground and subsampled for the different analyzes. The second data file (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.967505) includes the active layer depth, core depth and sample depth for each core as well as the calculated soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil nitrogen (SN) stocks for the active layer as well as for the reference depths 0 – 30 cm, 0 – 100 cm, 0 – 200 cm. SOC and SN stocks were calculated according to Michaelson et al. (1996) in kilograms of carbon per square meter (km C m−2) by multiplying the DBD with the TOC content in weight percentage (or TN in case of soil nitrogen), and the sample length in centimeters. SOC and SN stocks were added up to the active layer and the reference depths of 0–30, 0–100, and 0–200 cm (if the core reached that depth). Missing soil core intervals were extrapolated from adjacent soil samples or from samples with the same sedimentary characteristics according to the field notes. In addition, SOC and SN densities (kg C m-3) are given for the active layer as well as the reference depths.