The northern circumpolar permafrost region occupies about 16% of the global soil area andholds approximately 50% of the global belowground soil organic carbon (SOC). This thesis describes the quantity and quality of soil organic matter (SOM) in two areas of continuous permafrost in NE Greenland and NE Siberia. The main emphasis lies on the role of cryoturbation and Pleistocene loess-like deposits (yedoma) for SOC storage. This study is based on field work in three different study sites: Zackenberg (Greenland) and Shalaurovoand Chersky (Siberia), as well as laboratory analysis and radiocarbon dating. The estimatedmean SOC storage in the upper meter of soil for Zackenberg is 10.5 kg C m^-2 with 16% incryoturbated soil pockets. In Shalaurovo, the mean SOC storage is 29.0 kg C m^-2 and in Chersky 21.7 kg C m^-2 with more than 30% stored in cryoturbated soil pockets. The study also presents new analyses for the yedoma deposits; dry bulk densities are much lower (due to excess ground ice) than previously reported, suggesting that the SOC storage in yedoma might be overestimated.