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In permafrost, ice holds up the soil; when the ice melts, the land surface slumps, creating features known as thermokarst failures. Researchers have found that samples from thermokarst sites have lower levels of colored dissolved organic matter than samples from reference sites, suggesting that the carbon coming out of these sites is more reactive than the carbon draining from the active layer of permafrost. Potentially the tremendous stores of carbon in these soils can be a positive feedback for more warming. [Source: ScienceNOW]
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