Anaerobic carbon dioxide and methane production data of permafrost-affected soils of the northeast Siberian polygonal tundra

We anaerobically incubated soil samples from two polygon centers (P1: 72° 22.5 N, 126° 29.4 E, P2: 72° 22.3 N, 126° 29.9 E) on Samoylov, Northeast Siberia at 4°C for 150 days. The soil profile was divided into four soil layers: (i) the surface active layer (0-11 cm) including the main rooting zone; (ii) the bottom active layer (11-41 cm), both thawing every year; (iii) the transition zone which only thaws in some years (41-60 cm); and (iv) permafrost (>60 cm), presumably not thawed for several decades to centuries. The profile was further subdivided into depth increments of approximately 10 cm, resulting in a total of nine subsamples per profile: one from the surface active layer, three from the bottom active layer, two from the transition zone, and three from the permafrost. CO2 and CH4 production were measured via gas chromatography.