Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes
Permafrost in steep rock slopes has been increasingly studied since the early 2000s in conjunction with a growing number of rock slope failures, which likely resulted from permafrost degradation. In Norway, rock slope destabilization is a widespread phenomenon and a major source of risk for the popu...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fa02fbdb7a9c4eda89d1cd4952281635 2023-05-15T16:37:10+02:00 Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes F. Magnin B. Etzelmüller S. Westermann K. Isaksen P. Hilger R. L. Hermanns 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-1019-2019 https://doaj.org/article/fa02fbdb7a9c4eda89d1cd4952281635 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.earth-surf-dynam.net/7/1019/2019/esurf-7-1019-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2196-6311 https://doaj.org/toc/2196-632X doi:10.5194/esurf-7-1019-2019 2196-6311 2196-632X https://doaj.org/article/fa02fbdb7a9c4eda89d1cd4952281635 Earth Surface Dynamics, Vol 7, Pp 1019-1040 (2019) Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-1019-2019 2022-12-31T05:17:45Z Permafrost in steep rock slopes has been increasingly studied since the early 2000s in conjunction with a growing number of rock slope failures, which likely resulted from permafrost degradation. In Norway, rock slope destabilization is a widespread phenomenon and a major source of risk for the population and infrastructure. However, a lack of precise knowledge of the permafrost distribution in steep slopes hinders the assessment of its role in these destabilizations. This study proposes the first nationwide permafrost probability map for the steep slopes of Norway (CryoWall map). It is based on a multiple linear regression model fitted with multi-annual rock surface temperature (RST) measurements, collected at 25 rock slope sites, spread across a latitudinal transect (59–69 ∘ N) over mainland Norway. The CryoWall map suggests that discontinuous permafrost widely occurs above 1300–1400 and 1600–1700 m a.s.l. in the north and south rock faces of southern Norway (59 ∘ N), respectively. This lower altitudinal limit decreases in northern Norway (70 ∘ N) by about 500±50 m, with a more pronounced decrease for south faces, as a result of the insolation patterns largely driven by midnight sun in summer and polar night in winter. Similarly, the mean annual RST differences between north and south faces of similar elevation range around 1.5 ∘ C in northern Norway and 3.5 ∘ C in southern Norway. The CryoWall map is evaluated against direct ice observations in steep slopes and discussed in the context of former permafrost studies in various types of terrain in Norway. We show that permafrost can occur at much lower elevations in steep rock slopes than in other terrains, especially in north faces. We demonstrate that the CryoWall map is a valuable basis for further investigations related to permafrost in steep slopes in terms of both practical concerns and fundamental science. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Northern Norway permafrost polar night midnight sun Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Norway Earth Surface Dynamics 7 4 1019 1040 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 |
spellingShingle |
Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 F. Magnin B. Etzelmüller S. Westermann K. Isaksen P. Hilger R. L. Hermanns Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes |
topic_facet |
Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 |
description |
Permafrost in steep rock slopes has been increasingly studied since the early 2000s in conjunction with a growing number of rock slope failures, which likely resulted from permafrost degradation. In Norway, rock slope destabilization is a widespread phenomenon and a major source of risk for the population and infrastructure. However, a lack of precise knowledge of the permafrost distribution in steep slopes hinders the assessment of its role in these destabilizations. This study proposes the first nationwide permafrost probability map for the steep slopes of Norway (CryoWall map). It is based on a multiple linear regression model fitted with multi-annual rock surface temperature (RST) measurements, collected at 25 rock slope sites, spread across a latitudinal transect (59–69 ∘ N) over mainland Norway. The CryoWall map suggests that discontinuous permafrost widely occurs above 1300–1400 and 1600–1700 m a.s.l. in the north and south rock faces of southern Norway (59 ∘ N), respectively. This lower altitudinal limit decreases in northern Norway (70 ∘ N) by about 500±50 m, with a more pronounced decrease for south faces, as a result of the insolation patterns largely driven by midnight sun in summer and polar night in winter. Similarly, the mean annual RST differences between north and south faces of similar elevation range around 1.5 ∘ C in northern Norway and 3.5 ∘ C in southern Norway. The CryoWall map is evaluated against direct ice observations in steep slopes and discussed in the context of former permafrost studies in various types of terrain in Norway. We show that permafrost can occur at much lower elevations in steep rock slopes than in other terrains, especially in north faces. We demonstrate that the CryoWall map is a valuable basis for further investigations related to permafrost in steep slopes in terms of both practical concerns and fundamental science. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
F. Magnin B. Etzelmüller S. Westermann K. Isaksen P. Hilger R. L. Hermanns |
author_facet |
F. Magnin B. Etzelmüller S. Westermann K. Isaksen P. Hilger R. L. Hermanns |
author_sort |
F. Magnin |
title |
Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes |
title_short |
Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes |
title_full |
Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes |
title_fullStr |
Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in Norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes |
title_sort |
permafrost distribution in steep rock slopes in norway: measurements, statistical modelling and implications for geomorphological processes |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-1019-2019 https://doaj.org/article/fa02fbdb7a9c4eda89d1cd4952281635 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Ice Northern Norway permafrost polar night midnight sun |
genre_facet |
Ice Northern Norway permafrost polar night midnight sun |
op_source |
Earth Surface Dynamics, Vol 7, Pp 1019-1040 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.earth-surf-dynam.net/7/1019/2019/esurf-7-1019-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2196-6311 https://doaj.org/toc/2196-632X doi:10.5194/esurf-7-1019-2019 2196-6311 2196-632X https://doaj.org/article/fa02fbdb7a9c4eda89d1cd4952281635 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-1019-2019 |
container_title |
Earth Surface Dynamics |
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7 |
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4 |
container_start_page |
1019 |
op_container_end_page |
1040 |
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