The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA
We studied processes of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization at three sites adjacent to road infrastructure in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA. We examined climatic, environmental, and subsurface conditions and evaluated vulnerability of ice wedges to thermokarst in undisturbed and road-aff...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2022
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2021-0024 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/as-2021-0024 2024-09-30T14:27:39+00:00 The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA Kanevskiy, Mikhail Shur, Yuri (Skip) Walker, D.A. Jorgenson, Torre Raynolds, Martha K. Peirce, Jana L. Jones, Benjamin M. Buchhorn, Marcel Matyshak, Georgiy Bergstedt, Helena Breen, Amy L. Connor, Billy Daanen, Ronald Liljedahl, Anna Romanovsky, Vladimir E. Watson-Cook, Emily 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2021-0024 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Arctic Science volume 8, issue 2, page 498-530 ISSN 2368-7460 2368-7460 journal-article 2022 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 2024-09-12T04:13:25Z We studied processes of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization at three sites adjacent to road infrastructure in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA. We examined climatic, environmental, and subsurface conditions and evaluated vulnerability of ice wedges to thermokarst in undisturbed and road-affected areas. Vulnerability of ice wedges strongly depends on the structure and thickness of soil layers above ice wedges, including the active, transient, and intermediate layers. In comparison with the undisturbed area, sites adjacent to the roads had smaller average thicknesses of the protective intermediate layer (4 cm vs. 9 cm), and this layer was absent above almost 60% of ice wedges (vs. ∼45% in undisturbed areas). Despite the strong influence of infrastructure, ice-wedge degradation is a reversible process. Deepening of troughs during ice-wedge degradation leads to a substantial increase in mean annual ground temperatures but not in thaw depths. Thus, stabilization of ice wedges in the areas of cold continuous permafrost can occur despite accumulation of snow and water in the troughs. Although thermokarst is usually more severe in flooded areas, higher plant productivity, more litter, and mineral material (including road dust) accumulating in the troughs contribute to formation of the intermediate layer, which protects ice wedges from further melting. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Arctic Science |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
We studied processes of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization at three sites adjacent to road infrastructure in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA. We examined climatic, environmental, and subsurface conditions and evaluated vulnerability of ice wedges to thermokarst in undisturbed and road-affected areas. Vulnerability of ice wedges strongly depends on the structure and thickness of soil layers above ice wedges, including the active, transient, and intermediate layers. In comparison with the undisturbed area, sites adjacent to the roads had smaller average thicknesses of the protective intermediate layer (4 cm vs. 9 cm), and this layer was absent above almost 60% of ice wedges (vs. ∼45% in undisturbed areas). Despite the strong influence of infrastructure, ice-wedge degradation is a reversible process. Deepening of troughs during ice-wedge degradation leads to a substantial increase in mean annual ground temperatures but not in thaw depths. Thus, stabilization of ice wedges in the areas of cold continuous permafrost can occur despite accumulation of snow and water in the troughs. Although thermokarst is usually more severe in flooded areas, higher plant productivity, more litter, and mineral material (including road dust) accumulating in the troughs contribute to formation of the intermediate layer, which protects ice wedges from further melting. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kanevskiy, Mikhail Shur, Yuri (Skip) Walker, D.A. Jorgenson, Torre Raynolds, Martha K. Peirce, Jana L. Jones, Benjamin M. Buchhorn, Marcel Matyshak, Georgiy Bergstedt, Helena Breen, Amy L. Connor, Billy Daanen, Ronald Liljedahl, Anna Romanovsky, Vladimir E. Watson-Cook, Emily |
spellingShingle |
Kanevskiy, Mikhail Shur, Yuri (Skip) Walker, D.A. Jorgenson, Torre Raynolds, Martha K. Peirce, Jana L. Jones, Benjamin M. Buchhorn, Marcel Matyshak, Georgiy Bergstedt, Helena Breen, Amy L. Connor, Billy Daanen, Ronald Liljedahl, Anna Romanovsky, Vladimir E. Watson-Cook, Emily The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA |
author_facet |
Kanevskiy, Mikhail Shur, Yuri (Skip) Walker, D.A. Jorgenson, Torre Raynolds, Martha K. Peirce, Jana L. Jones, Benjamin M. Buchhorn, Marcel Matyshak, Georgiy Bergstedt, Helena Breen, Amy L. Connor, Billy Daanen, Ronald Liljedahl, Anna Romanovsky, Vladimir E. Watson-Cook, Emily |
author_sort |
Kanevskiy, Mikhail |
title |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA |
title_short |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA |
title_full |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA |
title_fullStr |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA |
title_full_unstemmed |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA |
title_sort |
shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, prudhoe bay oilfield, alaska, usa |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2021-0024 |
genre |
Arctic Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
op_source |
Arctic Science volume 8, issue 2, page 498-530 ISSN 2368-7460 2368-7460 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1811633699851075584 |