Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge
Numerous hydrogeological studies on the coastal zone describe the intrusion of sea water inland, salting underground aquifers. The phenomenon is commonly observed in the coasts outside polar areas. However, the impact of sea water has so far not been an object of detailed investigation in a periglac...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e54d6505579c45dfb3b180640904a129 2023-05-15T15:14:50+02:00 Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge Marek Kasprzak 2020-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090349 https://doaj.org/article/e54d6505579c45dfb3b180640904a129 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/9/349 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences10090349 2076-3263 https://doaj.org/article/e54d6505579c45dfb3b180640904a129 Geosciences, Vol 10, Iss 349, p 349 (2020) permafrost base permafrost wedge seawater intrusion coast electrical resistivity tomography electromagnetic induction Geology QE1-996.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090349 2022-12-31T02:26:16Z Numerous hydrogeological studies on the coastal zone describe the intrusion of sea water inland, salting underground aquifers. The phenomenon is commonly observed in the coasts outside polar areas. However, the impact of sea water has so far not been an object of detailed investigation in a periglacial environment devoid of subsea permafrost. Geophysical measurements at the west coast of the Wedel-Jarlsberg Land in Svalbard indicate that the border between the unfrozen seabed and the frozen ground onshore is not delimited by the shoreline. A zone of coastal unfrozen ground is located under a thin layer of permafrost reaching toward the sea. This state was observed with the use of electrical resistivity tomography under rocky headlands and capes, uplifted marine terraces located at the foot of mountain massifs and valley mouths as well as in the marginal zone of the Werenskiold Glacier. This short article presents the results of such a measurement, supplemented with electromagnetic detection. The measurements are unique in that they were conducted not only on the land surface, but also at the floor of the sea bay during the low water spring tide. The author proposes name structures detected in the coastal zone as a “permafrost wedge”, extending an identification of the permafrost base between the coast and the glaciers of Svalbard. However, in the absence of boreholes that would allow determining the thermal state of the ground in the study sites, the concept is based only on the interpretation of the geophysical imaging. Therefore, further discussion is required on whether the identified contrasts in electrical resistivity indeed result from thermal differences between the rocks or if they only indicate the cryotic state of the ground (saline cryopeg) within the range of seawater intrusion. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier permafrost Svalbard Wedel Jarlsberg Land wedge* Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Wedel-Jarlsberg ENVELOPE(-165.133,-165.133,-85.650,-85.650) Wedel Jarlsberg Land ENVELOPE(15.362,15.362,77.201,77.201) Geosciences 10 9 349 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
permafrost base permafrost wedge seawater intrusion coast electrical resistivity tomography electromagnetic induction Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
permafrost base permafrost wedge seawater intrusion coast electrical resistivity tomography electromagnetic induction Geology QE1-996.5 Marek Kasprzak Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge |
topic_facet |
permafrost base permafrost wedge seawater intrusion coast electrical resistivity tomography electromagnetic induction Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Numerous hydrogeological studies on the coastal zone describe the intrusion of sea water inland, salting underground aquifers. The phenomenon is commonly observed in the coasts outside polar areas. However, the impact of sea water has so far not been an object of detailed investigation in a periglacial environment devoid of subsea permafrost. Geophysical measurements at the west coast of the Wedel-Jarlsberg Land in Svalbard indicate that the border between the unfrozen seabed and the frozen ground onshore is not delimited by the shoreline. A zone of coastal unfrozen ground is located under a thin layer of permafrost reaching toward the sea. This state was observed with the use of electrical resistivity tomography under rocky headlands and capes, uplifted marine terraces located at the foot of mountain massifs and valley mouths as well as in the marginal zone of the Werenskiold Glacier. This short article presents the results of such a measurement, supplemented with electromagnetic detection. The measurements are unique in that they were conducted not only on the land surface, but also at the floor of the sea bay during the low water spring tide. The author proposes name structures detected in the coastal zone as a “permafrost wedge”, extending an identification of the permafrost base between the coast and the glaciers of Svalbard. However, in the absence of boreholes that would allow determining the thermal state of the ground in the study sites, the concept is based only on the interpretation of the geophysical imaging. Therefore, further discussion is required on whether the identified contrasts in electrical resistivity indeed result from thermal differences between the rocks or if they only indicate the cryotic state of the ground (saline cryopeg) within the range of seawater intrusion. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marek Kasprzak |
author_facet |
Marek Kasprzak |
author_sort |
Marek Kasprzak |
title |
Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge |
title_short |
Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge |
title_full |
Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge |
title_fullStr |
Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seawater Intrusion on the Arctic Coast (Svalbard): The Concept of Onshore-Permafrost Wedge |
title_sort |
seawater intrusion on the arctic coast (svalbard): the concept of onshore-permafrost wedge |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090349 https://doaj.org/article/e54d6505579c45dfb3b180640904a129 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-165.133,-165.133,-85.650,-85.650) ENVELOPE(15.362,15.362,77.201,77.201) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Wedel-Jarlsberg Wedel Jarlsberg Land |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Wedel-Jarlsberg Wedel Jarlsberg Land |
genre |
Arctic glacier permafrost Svalbard Wedel Jarlsberg Land wedge* |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier permafrost Svalbard Wedel Jarlsberg Land wedge* |
op_source |
Geosciences, Vol 10, Iss 349, p 349 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/9/349 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences10090349 2076-3263 https://doaj.org/article/e54d6505579c45dfb3b180640904a129 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090349 |
container_title |
Geosciences |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
349 |
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1766345238545170432 |