We investigated microbiological structures by conducting quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) analyses on sediment samples from thermokarst terrain in the continuous permafrost zone of Arctic Alaska. Sediment cores from undisturbed tundra uplands, thermokarst lakes and drained lake basins were taken in the field in April 2022 (Barrow Peninsula) and March 2024 (Baldwin Peninsula). Samples were kept frozen until microbiological subsampling and subsequent analyses took place. Laboratory work was conducted at the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences Section Geomicrobiology (Potsdam, Germany).

F.S. received funding from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt).#0.00 = below detection limit