Incubation Data Assessing Biodegradability of Organic Carbon Mobilized from Permafrost Thaw Slumps (Peel Plateau, NT, Canada)

Stream water was collected from upstream, within, and downstream of permafrost thaw slumps once each in the summer of 2015, 2016, and 2019 used pre-leached and sample-rinsed HDPE and LDPE containers. Specific sample collection coordinates and dates are provided in one of the excel files. Water was either stored unfiltered at 4degC in the dark or filtered through a GF/F and stored at 4degC in the dark until the start of incubations. Samples were mixed in various combinations, and incubated in air-tight bottles at room temperature. We measured: (a) concentrations of DOC, POC, and TOC, and SUVA254 (an optical proxy for dissolved organic matter (DOM) aromaticity, Weishaar et al. 2003) at the beginning and end of incubations; and (b) O2 concentrations ~daily (PreSens, Fibox4, SP-PSt3-NAU-D5-YOP) to provide insight on rate of change (Richardson et al. 2013). For our 2019 experiment we additionally measured changes in dissolved inorganic carbon, particulate inorganic carbon, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, sulphate, and fluorescence and absorbance of dissolved organic matter and base-extracted particulate organic matter. Details of sample methodology and instruments used are provided in the metadata file. A detailed description of the methods used to obtain this data is available in the supplementary and main text of: Shakil et al. submitted. Low biodegradability of particulate organic carbon mobilized from thaw slumps on the Peel Plateau, NT, and possible chemosynthesis and sorption effects. Biogeosciences Discussions.