Soil is the largest terrestrial reservoir of organic carbon and is central for climate change mitigation and carbon-climate feedbacks. Chemical and physical associations of soil carbon with minerals play a critical role in carbon storage, but the amount and global capacity for storage in this form remain unquantified. Here, we produce spatially-resolved global estimates of mineral-associated organic carbon stocks and carbon-storage capacity by analyzing 1144 globally-distributed soil profiles. We show that current stocks total 899 Pg C to a depth of 1 m in non-permafrost mineral soils. Although this constitutes 66% and 70% of soil carbon in surface and deeper layers, respectively, it is only 42% and 21% of the mineralogical capacity. Regions under agricultural management and deeper soil layers show the largest undersaturation of mineral-associated carbon. Critically, the degree of undersaturation indicates sequestration efficiency over years to decades. We show that, across 103 carbon-accrual measurements spanning management interventions globally, soils furthest from their mineralogical capacity are more effective at accruing carbon; sequestration rates average 3-times higher in soils at one tenth of their capacity compared to soils at one half of their capacity. Our findings provide insights into the world's soils, their capacity to store carbon, and priority regions and actions for soil carbon management.

Agricultural Research Service U S Department of Agriculture Temple TX 76502 USA

Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing 10081 China

Cambridge Conservation Institute University of Cambridge Cambridge CB2 3EA UK

Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA

Department of Biology University of Antwerp Antwerp 2000 Belgium

Department of Earth System Science Stanford University Stanford CA 94305 USA

Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability Colorado State University Fort Collins CO 80523 USA

Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge CB2 3EA UK

Deptartment of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science Lund University Lund SE 22100 Sweden

Energy and Resources Group University of California Berkeley Berkeley CA 94720 USA

Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN 37830 USA

Granular Inc San Francisco CA 94103 USA

Institute for Environmental Studies Charles University Prague 128 01 Czech Republic

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif sur Yvette F 91191 France

Physical and Life Sciences Directorate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore CA 94551 USA

Precourt Institute for Energy Stanford University Stanford CA 94305 USA

U S Geological Survey Menlo Park CA 94035 USA

Woods Institute for the Environment Stanford University Stanford CA 94305 USA

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