Table 1.
Physico-chemical characteristics and methanogenic potentials of a selection of the soil samples.
| Location | Site | Analyzed sample | pH | Ntot(%)a | Ctot(%) a | Corg(%) a | Carbonate (%) | Lag (d) | CH4 rateb (nmol g−1 d−1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nubra Valley | Glacier 1 | N1/3A Crust | 8.6 | 0.12 ± 0.01 | 2.82 ± 0.02 | 1.19 ± 0.03 | 58.0 | 31 | 169.8 ± 81.7 |
| Glacier 2 | N2/4A Crust | 8.7 | 0.07 ± 0.01 | 1.08 ± 0.08 | 1.02 ± 0.24 | 4.9 | 22 | 4.8 ± 0.5 | |
| Glacier 3 | N3/1C Crust | 8.2 | 0.12 ± 0.01 | 2.46 ± 0.10 | 0.88 ± 0.03 | 64.2 | 13 | 68.4 ± 43.0 | |
| Tsomoriri Plains | Chamser Glacier | TS 3B-bottom/crust | 7.5 | 0.24 ± 0.01 | 2.5 ± 0.14 | 2.53 ± 0.17 | BLD | 18 | 849.8 ± 143.2 |
| TS 3B-top/bare soil | 7.5 | BLDc | 0.59 ± 0.03 | 0.56 ± 0.02 | 4.3 | – | BLD | ||
| Arid | Crust 1 | 8.2 | 0.03 ± 0.01 | 0.63 ± 0.07 | 0.28 ± 0.01 | 55.8 | 16 | 378.0 ± 185.6 | |
| Bare soil 1 | 8.7 | 0.01 ± 0.00 | 0.16 ± 0.05 | 0.14 ± 0.01 | 13.8 | 21 | 8.9 ± 2.4 | ||
| Steppe | Crust 2 | 7.7 | 0.10 ± 0.02 | 0.81 ± 0.06 | 0.81 ± 0.00 | 13.5 | 16 | 21.8 ± 7.7 | |
| Bare soil 2 | 8.0 | 0.02 ± 0.00 | 0.38 ± 0.04 | 0.25 ± 0.00 | 34.0 | 19 | 19.9 ± 16.8 | ||
| Subnival | Crust 3 | 7.0 | BLD | 0.96 ± 0.11 | 0.83 ± 0.08 | 0.6 | 16 | 420.1 ± 27.2 | |
| Bare soil 3 | 6.9 | 0.02 ± 0.00 | 0.30 ± 0.04 | 0.29 ± 0.05 | 3.1 | 21 | 57.9 ± 13.9 |
a
Samples were analyzed in duplicates.
b
Means of the 3 incubated technical replicates.
c
BLD, below the limit of detection.