Estimates of soil carbon sequestration potential can help identify areas where appropriate use and management practices can be applied to convert them into carbon sinks. We estimated the carbon capacity of Pampean soils using previously developed models and compared the results with a local model developed by simultaneous quantile regression. We also modelled the effects of the factors controlling the carbon saturation deficit using artificial neural networks and mapped the topsoil and subsoil saturation deficit of the region. Data from a soil survey, in which 296 sites were sampled to 1 m depth, were used. Paired sites in grassland, cropland and lowland areas were selected. The total organic carbon was measured, and the proportion stabilised in the clay + silt (<20 µm) fraction was estimated. The saturation deficit could be predicted (R² = 0.78) by neural networks and was greater in cropland, followed by lowland and then grassland. It was higher in fine textured soils, in soil surface layers and in humid and colder environments. The saturation deficit of the region is 8.8 Gt carbon (average 196 Mg C ha^–1), approximately double the current organic carbon content of the region, indicating that there is considerable room for carbon sequestration in the Pampas. Efforts to increase soil carbon levels must focus on the finely textured soils in the humid part of the region.

对土壤碳固存潜力的估算可以帮助确定可以应用适当的使用和管理方法将其转化为碳汇的地区。我们使用先前开发的模型估算了潘邦土壤的碳容量，并将结果与​​通过同时分位数回归开发的本地模型进行了比较。我们还使用人工神经网络对控制碳饱和度赤字的因素的影响进行了建模，并绘制了该地区的表层土壤和底土饱和度赤字。使用土壤调查数据，其中296个采样点采样到1 m深度。选择了草原，农田和低地地区的配对地点。测量总有机碳，并估算在粘土+粉砂（<20 µm）级分中稳定的比例。可以预测饱和度不足（R ² = 0.78），在农田中更大，其次是低地，然后是草地。在质地细密的土壤，土壤表层以及潮湿和寒冷的环境中，它的含量更高。该地区的饱和度赤字为8.8 Gt碳（平均196 Mg C ha ^–1），大约是该地区当前有机碳含量的两倍，这表明潘帕斯州存在相当大的碳固存空间。增加土壤碳含量的努力必须集中在该地区潮湿地区的质地细密的土壤上。