Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska.
In 2007, the Anaktuvuk River fire burned more than 1000 km2 of arctic tundra in northern Alaska, ~ 50% of which occurred in an area with ice-rich syngenetic permafrost (Yedoma). By 2014, widespread degradation of ice wedges was apparent in the Yedoma region. In a 50 km2 area, thaw subsidence was det...
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ftpubmed:38605076 2024-05-12T08:00:23+00:00 Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska. Jones, Benjamin M Kanevskiy, Mikhail Z Shur, Yuri Gaglioti, Benjamin V Jorgenson, M Torre Ward Jones, Melissa K Veremeeva, Alexandra Miller, Eric A Jandt, Randi 2024 Apr 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58998-5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38605076 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11009396/ eng eng Nature Publishing Group https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58998-5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38605076 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11009396/ © 2024. The Author(s). Sci Rep ISSN:2045-2322 Volume:14 Issue:1 Journal Article 2024 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58998-5 2024-04-14T16:01:00Z In 2007, the Anaktuvuk River fire burned more than 1000 km2 of arctic tundra in northern Alaska, ~ 50% of which occurred in an area with ice-rich syngenetic permafrost (Yedoma). By 2014, widespread degradation of ice wedges was apparent in the Yedoma region. In a 50 km2 area, thaw subsidence was detected across 15% of the land area in repeat airborne LiDAR data acquired in 2009 and 2014. Updating observations with a 2021 airborne LiDAR dataset show that additional thaw subsidence was detected in < 1% of the study area, indicating stabilization of the thaw-affected permafrost terrain. Ground temperature measurements between 2010 and 2015 indicated that the number of near-surface soil thawing-degree-days at the burn site were 3 × greater than at an unburned control site, but by 2022 the number was reduced to 1.3 × greater. Mean annual ground temperature of the near-surface permafrost increased by 0.33 °C/yr in the burn site up to 7-years post-fire, but then cooled by 0.15 °C/yr in the subsequent eight years, while temperatures at the control site remained relatively stable. Permafrost cores collected from ice-wedge troughs (n = 41) and polygon centers (n = 8) revealed the presence of a thaw unconformity, that in most cases was overlain by a recovered permafrost layer that averaged 14.2 cm and 18.3 cm, respectively. Taken together, our observations highlight that the initial degradation of ice-rich permafrost following the Anaktuvuk River tundra fire has been followed by a period of thaw cessation, permafrost aggradation, and terrain stabilization. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra wedge* Alaska PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Scientific Reports 14 1 |
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Open Polar |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
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ftpubmed |
language |
English |
description |
In 2007, the Anaktuvuk River fire burned more than 1000 km2 of arctic tundra in northern Alaska, ~ 50% of which occurred in an area with ice-rich syngenetic permafrost (Yedoma). By 2014, widespread degradation of ice wedges was apparent in the Yedoma region. In a 50 km2 area, thaw subsidence was detected across 15% of the land area in repeat airborne LiDAR data acquired in 2009 and 2014. Updating observations with a 2021 airborne LiDAR dataset show that additional thaw subsidence was detected in < 1% of the study area, indicating stabilization of the thaw-affected permafrost terrain. Ground temperature measurements between 2010 and 2015 indicated that the number of near-surface soil thawing-degree-days at the burn site were 3 × greater than at an unburned control site, but by 2022 the number was reduced to 1.3 × greater. Mean annual ground temperature of the near-surface permafrost increased by 0.33 °C/yr in the burn site up to 7-years post-fire, but then cooled by 0.15 °C/yr in the subsequent eight years, while temperatures at the control site remained relatively stable. Permafrost cores collected from ice-wedge troughs (n = 41) and polygon centers (n = 8) revealed the presence of a thaw unconformity, that in most cases was overlain by a recovered permafrost layer that averaged 14.2 cm and 18.3 cm, respectively. Taken together, our observations highlight that the initial degradation of ice-rich permafrost following the Anaktuvuk River tundra fire has been followed by a period of thaw cessation, permafrost aggradation, and terrain stabilization. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jones, Benjamin M Kanevskiy, Mikhail Z Shur, Yuri Gaglioti, Benjamin V Jorgenson, M Torre Ward Jones, Melissa K Veremeeva, Alexandra Miller, Eric A Jandt, Randi |
spellingShingle |
Jones, Benjamin M Kanevskiy, Mikhail Z Shur, Yuri Gaglioti, Benjamin V Jorgenson, M Torre Ward Jones, Melissa K Veremeeva, Alexandra Miller, Eric A Jandt, Randi Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska. |
author_facet |
Jones, Benjamin M Kanevskiy, Mikhail Z Shur, Yuri Gaglioti, Benjamin V Jorgenson, M Torre Ward Jones, Melissa K Veremeeva, Alexandra Miller, Eric A Jandt, Randi |
author_sort |
Jones, Benjamin M |
title |
Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska. |
title_short |
Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska. |
title_full |
Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska. |
title_fullStr |
Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern Alaska. |
title_sort |
post-fire stabilization of thaw-affected permafrost terrain in northern alaska. |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58998-5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38605076 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11009396/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra wedge* Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra wedge* Alaska |
op_source |
Sci Rep ISSN:2045-2322 Volume:14 Issue:1 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58998-5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38605076 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11009396/ |
op_rights |
© 2024. The Author(s). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58998-5 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1798842258390253568 |