Unveiling Mineral-Enzyme Interactions as a Key Mechanism in Soil Organic Carbon Accumulation and Stabilization in Permafrost

Our findings reveal that Tibetan pemafrost soils contain four times more microbially-processed SOC than Alaskan sois,while Alaskan soils exhibit one order of magnitude higher peroxidase activity. This activily, driven by interactions betweenfungi, H,O,, and reactive minerals, is strongly correlated with mineral-bound SOC. These findings suggest thatperoxidase-driven H,O, reduction may be an unrecognized mechanism for SOC stabilization in Arctic ecosystems.