# Biomass Refined: 99% of Organic Carbon in Soils
## 1 Introduction
### Previous SOC Stock Evaluations  
A comprehensive study by table 6 in ref. [18] allocated soils thusly:  
1. Mineral soils (0-2 m deep)--1263 Gt SOC; \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l} \hline \hline
**Entity/Citation** & **IPCC (2013) \({}^{*}\)** & **Blakemore (2018b)** & **IPCC (2021) \({}^{*}\)** & **GCB (2023) \({}^{*}\)** \\ \hline Soil Organic C & \(\sim\)1950 & \(>\)8580 & 1700 & 1700 \\ Permafrost (SOC) & 1700 & (Included) & 1200 & 1400 \\
**Total soil SOC** & \(\sim\)**3650** & \(>\)**8580–25,000** & **2900** & **3100** \\ Vegetation & 550 & \(\sim\)2000 & 450 & 450 \\ NPP Ct C/yr & 61.5 & \(>\)220 & 71 \({}^{**}\) & 65 \({}^{***}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{*}\)Prior IPCC/GCB reports for non-desert, ice-free, flat land surface of \(\sim\)12 Gha (gigahectares), rather than 24 Gha as per [16], were modified slightly in the last decade. Most Vegetation measurements were of above-ground plant parts, almost always ignoring below-ground roots and extends that possibly double both biomass and NPP. Terrain and soil relief details may double values again. \({}^{**}\) Ref. [17] already had NPP of 71 Gt C/yr. \({}^{***}\) Doubleed for subterranean factors and upped again for ignored terrain to (65 \(\times\) 4 =) –260 Gt C/yr is a possible new NPP value.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Terrestrial organic carbon stocks (Gt C) and cycles (Gt C/yr) as currently reported. 2. Pernafrost (0-2 m)--466 Gt SOC;
3. Peatland (in permafrost region, 0-2 m)--116 Gt SOC;
4. Peatland (non-permafrost, 0-2m)--427 Gt SOC;
5. Soils, permafrost, and peat (at 2-3 m depth)--498 Gt SOC allocated thus: 199 for mineral soils, 207 for permafrost region (with half peat? ), ~92 for peatland;
6. Additional deep SOC deposits (>3 m)--330-550 Gt, median 440 Gt, allocated: 300-500 (median: ~400 Gt) in permafrost region (ambiguous about including peat that they limited to mean depth of 2.3 m? ), ~30-50 (~40 Gt) in tropical peatlands;
7. Sediments to depth elsewhere, e.g., deltas, floodplains, loess deposits--unknown. Although these data are complex, they may be summarized as Mineral soils (0-3 m) with (1263 + 199 = ) 1462 Gt SOC; Pernafrost (0 to >3 m) with (466 + 116 + 207 + -400 = 1189 Gt SOC; and non-permafrost Peat (0-2?) with (427 + 92 + - 40 = ) 559 Gt SOC. Total peatland peat plus Pernafrost peat would be about (559 + 116 = ) 675 Gt C. Soil carbon in its entirety was thus ~3210 Gt SOC to 3 m depth, excluding substantial \"_unknown_\" deep sediments. This is only slightly higher than the IPCC and GCB baseline value above of ~3000 Gt SOC. For the vast Pernafrost region alone, ref. [60] had 1672 Gt C and reported deeper sediments with 407 Gt C in >3-25 m Yedoma deposits and 241 Gt C in Pernafrost delta alluvialvia >3 m to add another (407 + 241 = ) 648 Gt SOC. This is greater by 248 Gt C than ~400 Gt SOC [PERSON] et al. estimated for deeper than 3 m. Added to [PERSON] et al. 's Pernafrost total gives the frozen region, to depth, about (1189 + 248 = ) 1437 Gt SOC. Despite claims by [19] for just peat in Tundra and Tropics >3 m deep with 1672 Gt C and 11 m deep with 89 Gt C, respectively (= 1761), this most certainly is an error mainly referring to Pernafrost, as is discussed further in the Peat section below. A later Pernafrost evaluation of up to 2000 Gt C by [49] is, for some reason, ignored in \"official\" carbon reports (e.g., [40]. Yet, an important point is that superficial Pernafrost totals of 1672 or 1189 Gt SOC in the boreal region are close to 1700 or 1200 Gt SOC that are reported by [41, 42]; thus, they seemingly include some boreal peat in Pernafrost, while apparently omitting non-Pernafrost peat as a separate entity. This is a major oversight as will be shown by revision of the extent of global peatland carbon stocks. As a crosscheck, areas of peatlands or bogs in Pernafrost, in temperate regions, or in the Tropics are defined separately in table 7 in ref. [17] in an extensive, yet overlooked, study of Earth's Phytomass and NPP. Nevertheless, in summary, [PERSON] et al.