Geomorphology and InSAR-Tracked Surface Displacements in an Ice-Rich Yedoma Landscape

• Published in: Frontiers in Earth Science
• Main Authors: J. van Huissteden, K. Teshebaeva, Y. Cheung, R. Í. Magnússon, H. Noorbergen, S. V. Karsanaev, T. C. Maximov, A. J. Dolman
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
• Subjects: InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar); Yedoma; geomorphology; Thaw lakes; floodplain; neotectonics; Science; Q; Indigirka; Ice; Peat; permafrost; Tundra; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.680565; https://doaj.org/article/44d3183d4baf42baa64628b800b6aee8

Ice-ridge Yedoma terrain is susceptible to vertical surface displacements by thaw and refreeze of ground ice, and geomorphological processes of mass wasting, erosion and sedimentation. Here we explore the relation between a 3 year data set of InSAR measurements of vertical surface displacements during the thaw season, and geomorphological features in an area in the Indigirka Lowlands, Northeast Siberia. The geomorphology is presented in a geomorphological map, based on interpretation of high resolution visible spectrum satellite imagery, field surveys and available data from paleo-environmental research. The main landforms comprise overlapping drained thaw lake basins and lakes, erosion remnants of Late Pleistocene Yedoma deposits, and a floodplain of a high-sinuosity anastomosing river with ancient river terrace remnants. The spatial distribution of drained thaw lake basins and Yedoma erosion remnants in the study area and its surroundings is influenced by neotectonic movements. The 3 years of InSAR measurement include 2 years of high snowfall and extreme river flooding (2017–2018) and 1 year of modest snowfall, early spring and warm summer (2019). The magnitude of surface displacements varies among the years, and show considerable spatial variation. Distinct spatial clusters of displacement trajectories can be discerned, which relate to geomorphological processes and ground ice conditions. Strong subsidence occurred in particular in 2019. In the wet year of 2017, marked heave occurred at Yedoma plateau surfaces, likely by ice accumulation at the top of the permafrost driven by excess precipitation. The spatial variability of surface displacements is high. This is explored by statistical analysis, and is attributed to the interaction of various processes. Next to ground ice volume change, also sedimentation (peat, colluvial deposition) and shrinkage or swelling of soils with changing water content may have contributed. Tussock tundra areas covered by the extreme 2017 and 2018 spring floods show high subsidence ...