Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut
Arctic permafrost is degrading and is thus releasing nutrients, solutes, sediment and water into soils and freshwater ecosystems. The impacts of this degradation depends on the geochemical characteristics and in large part on the spatial distribution of ground ice and solutes, which is not well-know...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/as-2021-0049 2023-12-17T10:22:52+01:00 Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut Paquette, Michel Lafrenière, Melissa J. Lamoureux, Scott F. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0049 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2021-0049 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2021-0049 en eng Canadian Science Publishing https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB Arctic Science volume 9, issue 2, page 465-482 ISSN 2368-7460 General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science journal-article 2023 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0049 2023-11-19T13:38:47Z Arctic permafrost is degrading and is thus releasing nutrients, solutes, sediment and water into soils and freshwater ecosystems. The impacts of this degradation depends on the geochemical characteristics and in large part on the spatial distribution of ground ice and solutes, which is not well-known in the High Arctic polar desert ecosystems. This research links ground ice and solute concentrations, to establish a framework for identifying locations vulnerable to permafrost degradation. It builds on landscape classifications and cryostratigraphic interpretations of permafrost history. Well-vegetated wetland sites with syngenetic permafrost aggradation show a different geochemical signature from polar desert and epigenetic sites. In wetlands, where ground ice contents were high (<97% volume), total dissolved solute concentrations were relatively low (mean 283.0 ± 327.8 ppm), reflecting a carbonate terrestrial/freshwater setting. In drier sites with epigenetic origin, such as polar deserts, ice contents are low (<47% volume), solute concentrations were high (mean 3248.5 ± 1907.0 ppm, max 12055 ppm) and dominated by Na + and Cl − ions, reflecting a post-glacial marine inundation during permafrost formation. Dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved nitrogen concentrations usually increased at the top of permafrost and could not be as clearly associated with permafrost history. The research shows that the geochemistry of polar desert permafrost is highly dependent on permafrost history, and it can be estimated using hydrogeomorphological terrain classifications. The lower ice content of polar desert sites indicates that these areas are more vulnerable to thaw relative to the ice-rich wetland sites, and the elevated solute concentrations indicate that these areas could mobilise substantial solutes to downstream environments, should they become hydrologically connected with future warming. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ice Nunavut permafrost polar desert Resolute Bay Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Arctic Nunavut Resolute Bay ENVELOPE(-94.842,-94.842,74.677,74.677) Arctic Science |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science Paquette, Michel Lafrenière, Melissa J. Lamoureux, Scott F. Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science |
description |
Arctic permafrost is degrading and is thus releasing nutrients, solutes, sediment and water into soils and freshwater ecosystems. The impacts of this degradation depends on the geochemical characteristics and in large part on the spatial distribution of ground ice and solutes, which is not well-known in the High Arctic polar desert ecosystems. This research links ground ice and solute concentrations, to establish a framework for identifying locations vulnerable to permafrost degradation. It builds on landscape classifications and cryostratigraphic interpretations of permafrost history. Well-vegetated wetland sites with syngenetic permafrost aggradation show a different geochemical signature from polar desert and epigenetic sites. In wetlands, where ground ice contents were high (<97% volume), total dissolved solute concentrations were relatively low (mean 283.0 ± 327.8 ppm), reflecting a carbonate terrestrial/freshwater setting. In drier sites with epigenetic origin, such as polar deserts, ice contents are low (<47% volume), solute concentrations were high (mean 3248.5 ± 1907.0 ppm, max 12055 ppm) and dominated by Na + and Cl − ions, reflecting a post-glacial marine inundation during permafrost formation. Dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved nitrogen concentrations usually increased at the top of permafrost and could not be as clearly associated with permafrost history. The research shows that the geochemistry of polar desert permafrost is highly dependent on permafrost history, and it can be estimated using hydrogeomorphological terrain classifications. The lower ice content of polar desert sites indicates that these areas are more vulnerable to thaw relative to the ice-rich wetland sites, and the elevated solute concentrations indicate that these areas could mobilise substantial solutes to downstream environments, should they become hydrologically connected with future warming. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Paquette, Michel Lafrenière, Melissa J. Lamoureux, Scott F. |
author_facet |
Paquette, Michel Lafrenière, Melissa J. Lamoureux, Scott F. |
author_sort |
Paquette, Michel |
title |
Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut |
title_short |
Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut |
title_full |
Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut |
title_fullStr |
Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut |
title_full_unstemmed |
Landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, Resolute Bay, Nunavut |
title_sort |
landscape influence on permafrost ground ice geochemistry in a polar desert environment, resolute bay, nunavut |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0049 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2021-0049 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2021-0049 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-94.842,-94.842,74.677,74.677) |
geographic |
Arctic Nunavut Resolute Bay |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Nunavut Resolute Bay |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ice Nunavut permafrost polar desert Resolute Bay |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ice Nunavut permafrost polar desert Resolute Bay |
op_source |
Arctic Science volume 9, issue 2, page 465-482 ISSN 2368-7460 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0049 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1785554102021783552 |