Seminar: Sophie von Fromm

Given the importance of soils in the global carbon (C) cycle, it is important to understand not only how much C soils store, but also how long C persists. Climate change is rapidly altering the C cycle, yet information on the drivers of soil organic carbon (SOC) abundance (C storage) and persistence (retention of stored C) across continental regions and at the global scale is still limited. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of SOC are strongly influenced by the interaction of climate and mineralogy. However, these findings are based primarily on studies from temperate regions and on small-scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied continental regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled SOC dynamics at larger scales. In this talk, I will present findings from my PhD thesis and provide insights into large-scale SOC cycling based on a continental radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub-Saharan Africa and a synthesized global radiocarbon dataset.