Modern and Late Holocene Retrogressive Thaw Slump Activity on the Yukon Coastal Plain and Herschel Island, Yukon Territory, Canada

ABSTRACT Four retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) located on Herschel Island and the Yukon coast (King Point) in the western Canadian Arctic were investigated to compare the environmental, sedimentological and geochemical setting and characteristics of zones in active and stabilised slumps and at undist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
Main Authors: Lantuit, H., Pollard, W. H., Couture, N., Fritz, M., Schirrmeister, L., Meyer, H., Hubberten, H.‐W.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012
Subjects:
Earth-Surface Processes
Arctic
Yukon
Canada
Herschel Island
King Point
Herschel
Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
Tundra
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1731
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fppp.1731
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp.1731
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Summary:ABSTRACT Four retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) located on Herschel Island and the Yukon coast (King Point) in the western Canadian Arctic were investigated to compare the environmental, sedimentological and geochemical setting and characteristics of zones in active and stabilised slumps and at undisturbed sites. In general, the slope, sedimentology and biogeochemistry of stabilised and undisturbed zones differ, independent of their age or location. Organic carbon contents were lower in slumps than in the surrounding tundra, and the density and compaction of slump sediments were much greater. Radiocarbon dating showed that RTS were likely to have been active around 300 a BP and are undergoing a similar period of increased activity now. This cycle is thought to be controlled more by local geometry, cryostratigraphy and the rate of coastal erosion than by variation in summer temperatures. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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