Characteristics and radiocarbon ages of four retrogressive thaw slumps on Herschel Island and King Point

Four retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) located on Herschel Island and the Yukon coast (King Point) in the western Canadian Arctic were investigated to compare the environmental, sedimentological and geochemical setting and characteristics of zones in active and stabilised slumps and at undisturbed sit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lantuit, Hugues, Pollard, Wayne H, Couture, Nicole, Fritz, Michael, Schirrmeister, Lutz, Meyer, Hanno, Hubberten, Hans-Wolfgang
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2012
Subjects:
AWI_PerDyn
International Polar Year (2007-2008)
IPY
Permafrost Research (Periglacial Dynamics) @ AWI
Arctic
Yukon
Herschel Island
King Point
Herschel
International Polar Year
permafrost
Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
Tundra
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.810045
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.810045
Description
Summary:Four retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) located on Herschel Island and the Yukon coast (King Point) in the western Canadian Arctic were investigated to compare the environmental, sedimentological and geochemical setting and characteristics of zones in active and stabilised slumps and at undisturbed sites. In general, the slope, sedimentology and biogeochemistry of stabilised and undisturbed zones differ, independent of their age or location. Organic carbon contents were lower in slumps than in the surrounding tundra, and the density and compaction of slump sediments were much greater. Radiocarbon dating showed that RTS were likely to have been active around 300 a BP and are undergoing a similar period of increased activity now. This cycle is thought to be controlled more by local geometry, cryostratigraphy and the rate of coastal erosion than by variation in summer temperatures.

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