Permafrost thawing mobilizes large quantities of organic carbon that was sequestered in Arctic regions over the last glacial cycle. Processes involved in the oxidation and mineralization of this carbon need to be further assessed to estimate the fraction to be released into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. This archive contains data from an experiment assessing the short term (12 days) degradation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) collected from four tundra ponds sampled early July on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. Four treatments were applied in situ: 1- Control (C) obtained by filtering water onto 0.2 µm filters incubated in the dark; 2- Sunlight (S) obtained using the same filtered water but incubated under natural sunlight conditions; 3- Bacteria (B) obtained on unfiltered water incubated in the dark; 4- Sunlight and Bacteria (SB) obtained on unfiltered water incubated under natural light conditions. DOM was characterized by absorption scans, matrices of fluorescence (with PARAFAC extraction), and DOC quantification. Bacterial abundance was also followed. Associated environmental data are also included in this archive, specifically thermal profiles during sunny and cloudy days in two ponds, and light (PAR), air temperature and bottle temperatures during the incubations.
