The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost
Thermo-erosion gullies (TEGs) are one of the most common forms of abrupt permafrost degradation. They generally form in ice-wedge polygonal networks where the interconnected troughs can channel runoff water. Although TEG can form within a single thawing season, it takes them several decades for thei...
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Copernicus Publications
2024
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ftnonlinearchiv:oai:noa.gwlb.de:cop_mods_00072314 2024-04-14T08:00:10+00:00 The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost Gagnon, Samuel Fortier, Daniel Godin, Etienne Veillette, Audrey 2024-03 electronic https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072314 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070535/egusphere-2024-208.pdf https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2024/egusphere-2024-208/egusphere-2024-208.pdf eng eng Copernicus Publications https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072314 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070535/egusphere-2024-208.pdf https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2024/egusphere-2024-208/egusphere-2024-208.pdf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article Verlagsveröffentlichung article Text doc-type:article 2024 ftnonlinearchiv https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208 2024-03-19T12:18:16Z Thermo-erosion gullies (TEGs) are one of the most common forms of abrupt permafrost degradation. They generally form in ice-wedge polygonal networks where the interconnected troughs can channel runoff water. Although TEG can form within a single thawing season, it takes them several decades for their complete stabilization. While the inception of TEGs has been examined in several studies, the processes of their stabilization remain poorly documented, especially the ground ice patterns that form following permafrost aggradation in stabilizing TEGs. For this study, we investigated the impacts of two TEGs in the Canadian High Arctic (Bylot Island, NU, Canada) on ground ice content, cryostratigraphic patterns, and geomorphology to examine permafrost recovery following thermal erosion in ice-wedge polygonal tundra. We sampled 17 permafrost cores from two TEGs – one still active (since 1999) and one stabilized (>100 years old) – to describe the surface conditions, interpret the cryostratigraphic patterns, and characterize the state of permafrost after TEG stabilization. We observed that although the TEG caused discernable cryostratigraphic patterns, ground ice content and active layer thickness of the TEGs were comparable to measurements made in undisturbed conditions. We also noted that once stabilized, TEGs permanently (at the Anthropocene scale) alter landscape morphology and hydrological connectivity. We concluded that although the formation of a TEG has profound effects on the short/medium term and leaves near permanent geomorphological and hydrological scars in periglacial landscapes, on the long term, High Arctic permafrost can recover and return to geocryological conditions similar to those pre-dating the initial disturbance. This suggests that in stable environmental conditions undergoing natural variability, permafrost can persist longer than the geomorphological landforms in which it forms. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness Arctic Bylot Island Ice permafrost Tundra wedge* Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA Arctic Bylot Island Canada |
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Open Polar |
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Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA |
op_collection_id |
ftnonlinearchiv |
language |
English |
topic |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
spellingShingle |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung Gagnon, Samuel Fortier, Daniel Godin, Etienne Veillette, Audrey The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost |
topic_facet |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
description |
Thermo-erosion gullies (TEGs) are one of the most common forms of abrupt permafrost degradation. They generally form in ice-wedge polygonal networks where the interconnected troughs can channel runoff water. Although TEG can form within a single thawing season, it takes them several decades for their complete stabilization. While the inception of TEGs has been examined in several studies, the processes of their stabilization remain poorly documented, especially the ground ice patterns that form following permafrost aggradation in stabilizing TEGs. For this study, we investigated the impacts of two TEGs in the Canadian High Arctic (Bylot Island, NU, Canada) on ground ice content, cryostratigraphic patterns, and geomorphology to examine permafrost recovery following thermal erosion in ice-wedge polygonal tundra. We sampled 17 permafrost cores from two TEGs – one still active (since 1999) and one stabilized (>100 years old) – to describe the surface conditions, interpret the cryostratigraphic patterns, and characterize the state of permafrost after TEG stabilization. We observed that although the TEG caused discernable cryostratigraphic patterns, ground ice content and active layer thickness of the TEGs were comparable to measurements made in undisturbed conditions. We also noted that once stabilized, TEGs permanently (at the Anthropocene scale) alter landscape morphology and hydrological connectivity. We concluded that although the formation of a TEG has profound effects on the short/medium term and leaves near permanent geomorphological and hydrological scars in periglacial landscapes, on the long term, High Arctic permafrost can recover and return to geocryological conditions similar to those pre-dating the initial disturbance. This suggests that in stable environmental conditions undergoing natural variability, permafrost can persist longer than the geomorphological landforms in which it forms. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gagnon, Samuel Fortier, Daniel Godin, Etienne Veillette, Audrey |
author_facet |
Gagnon, Samuel Fortier, Daniel Godin, Etienne Veillette, Audrey |
author_sort |
Gagnon, Samuel |
title |
The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost |
title_short |
The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost |
title_full |
The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost |
title_fullStr |
The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost |
title_full_unstemmed |
The cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the Canadian High Arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost |
title_sort |
cryostratigraphy of thermo-erosion gullies in the canadian high arctic demonstrates the resilience of permafrost |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072314 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070535/egusphere-2024-208.pdf https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2024/egusphere-2024-208/egusphere-2024-208.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada |
genre |
Active layer thickness Arctic Bylot Island Ice permafrost Tundra wedge* |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Arctic Bylot Island Ice permafrost Tundra wedge* |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00072314 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00070535/egusphere-2024-208.pdf https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2024/egusphere-2024-208/egusphere-2024-208.pdf |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-208 |
_version_ |
1796315408835280896 |