Recent works show that organic matter accumulation in some soils from coastal Antarctica is higher than
previously expected. The objective of the present work was to estimate the organic C stocks for soils from maritime
Antarctica. Cryosols from subpolar desert landscapes presented the lowest organic C stocks. Ornithogenic soils are the
most important C reservoirs in terrestrial ecosystems in this part of Antarctica. Although these soils correspond to only
2.5 % of the ice-free areas at Admiralty Bay, they contain approximately 20 % of the estimated C stock. Most of the
organic C in the studied soils is stored in the active layer but in some cases the C is also stored in the permafrost.