SOC stabilization mechanisms and temperature sensitivity in old terraced soils

Abstract. Being the most common and widest spread man-made landform, terrace construction has resulted in an extensive perturbation of the land surface. Our mechanistic understanding of soil organic carbon (SOC) (de-) stabilization mechanisms and of the persistence of SOC stored in terraced soils, however, is far from complete. Here we explored the factors controlling SOC stability and temperature sensitivity (Q10) of abandoned prehistoric agricultural terrace soils in NE England, using soil fractionation and temperature sensitive incubation in combination with measurements of terrace soil burial age. Results showed that although buried terrace soils contained 1.7 times more unprotected SOC (i.e., coarse particulate organic carbon) than non-terraced soils at comparable soil depths, a significantly lower potential soil respiration was observed, relative to a control (non-terraced) profile. This suggests that burial of former topsoil due to terracing provided a mechanism for enhanced C stabilization. Furthermore, we observed a shift in SOC fraction composition from particulate organic C towards mineral protected C with increasing burial age. This clear shift to more processed recalcitrant SOC with soil burial age also contributes to SOC stability in terraced soils. Temperature sensitivity incubations revealed that the dominant controls on Q10 depend on the terrace soil burial age. At relatively younger ages of soil burial, the reduction of substrate availability due to SOC mineral protection with ageing attenuates the intrinsic Q10 of SOC decomposition. However, as terrace soil becomes older, SOC stocks in deep buried horizons are characterized by a higher temperature sensitivity, potentially resulting from the poor SOC quality (i.e., soil C : N ratio). In conclusion, terracing in our study site has stabilized SOC as a result of soil burial during terrace construction. The depth-age patterns of Q10 and SOC fraction composition of terraced soils observed in our study site differ from those seen in non-terraced soils and this has implications when assessing the effects of climate warming or terrace abandonment on the terrestrial C cycle.