Permafrost evolution under the influence of long-term climate fluctuations and glacio-eustatic sea-level variation: region of Laptev and East Siberian seas, Russia

• Main Authors: Romanivskii, N. N., Hubberten, Hans-Wolfgang, Romanovsky, V. E., Kholodov, A. L.
• Other Authors: Phillips, Marcia, Springman, Sarah M., Arenson, Lukas U.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Balkema 2003
• Subjects: laptev; permafrost; Siberia
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27993/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27993/1/2003_Romanovskii-etal-Permafrost_ICPerm-8-Chapter_172.pdf; http://research.iarc.uaf.edu/NICOP/DVD/ICOP%202003%20Permafrost/Pdf/Chapter_172.pdf

Results of a five-year investigation of permafrost and gas-hydrate stability zone evolution on the Laptev and East Siberia Seas shelf are presented. For investigation of permafrost and gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) evolution during the Middle Pleistocene– Holocene (last 400 ka), a palaeo-geographic scenario and numerical model were developed. The model takes into consideration the duration of permafrost agradation and degradation, existence of permafrost temperature zonality, different geological composition and geothermal heat flux in different geological structures etc. Based on the modelling the following conclusions can be made. Both offshore permafrost and GHSZ recently exist from the shoreline till to the upper part of continental slope. Delay of the maximal permafrost thickness relative to the climatic extremes and different evolution of offshore permafrost thickness and GHSZ at different seawater depths is shown.