The study looked at how soil carbon is distributed in different types of land in the Tianshan Mountains. They found that soil carbon levels varied depending on the land cover, with alpine meadows having the highest levels. In arable land, a third of the soil carbon was found in the top 20cm, while in other areas like forests and meadows, it was more evenly distributed. The difference in soil carbon levels between adjacent layers was small in arable land and even smaller in bare land and sparse vegetation.