The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding
Flooding of low-lying Arctic regions has the potential to warm and thaw permafrost by changing the surface reflectance of solar insolation, increasing subsurface soil moisture, and increasing soil thermal conductivity. However, the impact of flooding on permafrost in the continuous permafrost enviro...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 https://doaj.org/article/163f7deba331490a95506d3974f2d4c1 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:163f7deba331490a95506d3974f2d4c1 2023-09-05T13:11:10+02:00 The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding Yu Zhang Elchin Jafarov Anastasia Piliouras Benjamin Jones Joel C Rowland J David Moulton 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 https://doaj.org/article/163f7deba331490a95506d3974f2d4c1 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/163f7deba331490a95506d3974f2d4c1 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 18, Iss 3, p 035004 (2023) coastal flooding Arctic active layer thickness permafrost hydro-thermal dynamics Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 2023-08-13T00:36:58Z Flooding of low-lying Arctic regions has the potential to warm and thaw permafrost by changing the surface reflectance of solar insolation, increasing subsurface soil moisture, and increasing soil thermal conductivity. However, the impact of flooding on permafrost in the continuous permafrost environment remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we used a combination of available flooding data on the Ikpikpuk delta and a numerical model to simulate the hydro-thermal processes under coastal floodplain flooding. We first constructed the three most common flood events based on water level data on the Ikpikpuk: snowmelt floods in the late spring and early summer, middle and late summer floods, and floods throughout the whole spring and summer. Then the impact of these flooding events on the permafrost was simulated for one-dimensional permafrost columns using the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATSv1.0), a fully coupled permafrost-hydrology and thermal dynamic model. Our results show that coastal floods have an important impact on coastal permafrost dynamics with a cooling effect on the surficial soil and a warming effect on the deeper soil. Cumulative flooding events over several years can cause continuous warming of the deep subsurface but cool down the surficial layer. Flood timing is a primary control of the vertical extent of the permafrost thaw and the active layer deepening. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Environmental Research Letters 18 3 035004 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
coastal flooding Arctic active layer thickness permafrost hydro-thermal dynamics Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
coastal flooding Arctic active layer thickness permafrost hydro-thermal dynamics Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Yu Zhang Elchin Jafarov Anastasia Piliouras Benjamin Jones Joel C Rowland J David Moulton The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding |
topic_facet |
coastal flooding Arctic active layer thickness permafrost hydro-thermal dynamics Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Flooding of low-lying Arctic regions has the potential to warm and thaw permafrost by changing the surface reflectance of solar insolation, increasing subsurface soil moisture, and increasing soil thermal conductivity. However, the impact of flooding on permafrost in the continuous permafrost environment remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we used a combination of available flooding data on the Ikpikpuk delta and a numerical model to simulate the hydro-thermal processes under coastal floodplain flooding. We first constructed the three most common flood events based on water level data on the Ikpikpuk: snowmelt floods in the late spring and early summer, middle and late summer floods, and floods throughout the whole spring and summer. Then the impact of these flooding events on the permafrost was simulated for one-dimensional permafrost columns using the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATSv1.0), a fully coupled permafrost-hydrology and thermal dynamic model. Our results show that coastal floods have an important impact on coastal permafrost dynamics with a cooling effect on the surficial soil and a warming effect on the deeper soil. Cumulative flooding events over several years can cause continuous warming of the deep subsurface but cool down the surficial layer. Flood timing is a primary control of the vertical extent of the permafrost thaw and the active layer deepening. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Yu Zhang Elchin Jafarov Anastasia Piliouras Benjamin Jones Joel C Rowland J David Moulton |
author_facet |
Yu Zhang Elchin Jafarov Anastasia Piliouras Benjamin Jones Joel C Rowland J David Moulton |
author_sort |
Yu Zhang |
title |
The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding |
title_short |
The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding |
title_full |
The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding |
title_fullStr |
The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding |
title_full_unstemmed |
The thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding |
title_sort |
thermal response of permafrost to coastal floodplain flooding |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 https://doaj.org/article/163f7deba331490a95506d3974f2d4c1 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 18, Iss 3, p 035004 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/163f7deba331490a95506d3974f2d4c1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acba32 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
035004 |
_version_ |
1776198388645101568 |