Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard
New development in regions with rapidly changing climates may experience unforeseen hazards. Thermokarst lakes (bodies of freshwater that collect in depressions formed by thawing permafrost) cover 20% of Arctic lowlands and are naturally prone to causing catastrophic flooding. Cumulative lake draina...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.2175 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Ffee.2175 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/fee.2175 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 |
id |
crwiley:10.1002/fee.2175 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1002/fee.2175 2024-03-17T08:55:41+00:00 Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard Arp, Christopher D Jones, Benjamin M Hinkel, Kenneth M Kane, Douglas L Whitman, Matthew S Kemnitz, Richard National Science Foundation 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.2175 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Ffee.2175 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/fee.2175 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment volume 18, issue 7, page 384-390 ISSN 1540-9295 1540-9309 Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2175 2024-02-22T00:13:15Z New development in regions with rapidly changing climates may experience unforeseen hazards. Thermokarst lakes (bodies of freshwater that collect in depressions formed by thawing permafrost) cover 20% of Arctic lowlands and are naturally prone to causing catastrophic flooding. Cumulative lake drainage over time has resulted in up to 60% landscape coverage by drained thermokarst lake basins ( DTLB s). Although the impacts of lake drainage on ecosystems and infrastructure have long been considered a potential hazard, these occurrences are usually viewed as one‐time events. However, recent observations in northern Alaska highlight a previously unrecognized threat: annually recurring snow‐dam outburst floods from DTLB s. Each winter, blowing snow fills DTLB drainage gullies, impounding meltwater in the spring and – upon snow‐dam failure – releasing downstream floods. Data collected from 14 DTLB s in Alaska reveal a wide range in flood peaks, many of which exceed river flood events, providing a missing link in Arctic ecosystem hydrology. Projected snowier winters may result in even larger snow‐dam outbursts from DTLB s, adding uncertainty to future risk assessments. If climate change also drives enhanced lake drainage, we predict even more sporadic and higher magnitude floods, with implications for downstream ecosystems and human infrastructure as development pushes into the Arctic lowlands. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change permafrost Thermokarst Alaska Wiley Online Library Arctic Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 18 7 384 390 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Arp, Christopher D Jones, Benjamin M Hinkel, Kenneth M Kane, Douglas L Whitman, Matthew S Kemnitz, Richard Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard |
topic_facet |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
New development in regions with rapidly changing climates may experience unforeseen hazards. Thermokarst lakes (bodies of freshwater that collect in depressions formed by thawing permafrost) cover 20% of Arctic lowlands and are naturally prone to causing catastrophic flooding. Cumulative lake drainage over time has resulted in up to 60% landscape coverage by drained thermokarst lake basins ( DTLB s). Although the impacts of lake drainage on ecosystems and infrastructure have long been considered a potential hazard, these occurrences are usually viewed as one‐time events. However, recent observations in northern Alaska highlight a previously unrecognized threat: annually recurring snow‐dam outburst floods from DTLB s. Each winter, blowing snow fills DTLB drainage gullies, impounding meltwater in the spring and – upon snow‐dam failure – releasing downstream floods. Data collected from 14 DTLB s in Alaska reveal a wide range in flood peaks, many of which exceed river flood events, providing a missing link in Arctic ecosystem hydrology. Projected snowier winters may result in even larger snow‐dam outbursts from DTLB s, adding uncertainty to future risk assessments. If climate change also drives enhanced lake drainage, we predict even more sporadic and higher magnitude floods, with implications for downstream ecosystems and human infrastructure as development pushes into the Arctic lowlands. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Arp, Christopher D Jones, Benjamin M Hinkel, Kenneth M Kane, Douglas L Whitman, Matthew S Kemnitz, Richard |
author_facet |
Arp, Christopher D Jones, Benjamin M Hinkel, Kenneth M Kane, Douglas L Whitman, Matthew S Kemnitz, Richard |
author_sort |
Arp, Christopher D |
title |
Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard |
title_short |
Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard |
title_full |
Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard |
title_fullStr |
Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging Arctic hazard |
title_sort |
recurring outburst floods from drained lakes: an emerging arctic hazard |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.2175 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Ffee.2175 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/fee.2175 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/fee.2175 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change permafrost Thermokarst Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change permafrost Thermokarst Alaska |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment volume 18, issue 7, page 384-390 ISSN 1540-9295 1540-9309 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2175 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
384 |
op_container_end_page |
390 |
_version_ |
1793764229603393536 |