The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1
We studied processes of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization at three sites adjacent to road infrastructure in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA. We examined climatic, environmental, and subsurface conditions and evaluated vulnerability of ice wedges to thermokarst in undisturbed and road-aff...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://doaj.org/article/3b6f4357c8b1435c9c48d495919faff0 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:3b6f4357c8b1435c9c48d495919faff0 2023-05-15T14:22:25+02:00 The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1 Mikhail Kanevskiy Yuri Shur D.A. (Skip) Walker Torre Jorgenson Martha K. Raynolds Jana L. Peirce Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn Georgiy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Amy L. Breen Billy Connor Ronald Daanen Anna Liljedahl Vladimir E. Romanovsky Emily Watson-Cook 2022-06-01 https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://doaj.org/article/3b6f4357c8b1435c9c48d495919faff0 en fr eng fre Canadian Science Publishing doi:10.1139/as-2021-0024 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/3b6f4357c8b1435c9c48d495919faff0 undefined Arctic Science, Vol 8, Iss 2, Pp 498-530 (2022) permafrost thermokarst ground ice cryostratigraphy active layer transient layer geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2022 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 2023-01-22T19:12:10Z We studied processes of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization at three sites adjacent to road infrastructure in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA. We examined climatic, environmental, and subsurface conditions and evaluated vulnerability of ice wedges to thermokarst in undisturbed and road-affected areas. Vulnerability of ice wedges strongly depends on the structure and thickness of soil layers above ice wedges, including the active, transient, and intermediate layers. In comparison with the undisturbed area, sites adjacent to the roads had smaller average thicknesses of the protective intermediate layer (4 cm vs. 9 cm), and this layer was absent above almost 60% of ice wedges (vs. ∼45% in undisturbed areas). Despite the strong influence of infrastructure, ice-wedge degradation is a reversible process. Deepening of troughs during ice-wedge degradation leads to a substantial increase in mean annual ground temperatures but not in thaw depths. Thus, stabilization of ice wedges in the areas of cold continuous permafrost can occur despite accumulation of snow and water in the troughs. Although thermokarst is usually more severe in flooded areas, higher plant productivity, more litter, and mineral material (including road dust) accumulating in the troughs contribute to formation of the intermediate layer, which protects ice wedges from further melting. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska Unknown Arctic Science 8 2 498 530 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English French |
topic |
permafrost thermokarst ground ice cryostratigraphy active layer transient layer geo envir |
spellingShingle |
permafrost thermokarst ground ice cryostratigraphy active layer transient layer geo envir Mikhail Kanevskiy Yuri Shur D.A. (Skip) Walker Torre Jorgenson Martha K. Raynolds Jana L. Peirce Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn Georgiy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Amy L. Breen Billy Connor Ronald Daanen Anna Liljedahl Vladimir E. Romanovsky Emily Watson-Cook The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1 |
topic_facet |
permafrost thermokarst ground ice cryostratigraphy active layer transient layer geo envir |
description |
We studied processes of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization at three sites adjacent to road infrastructure in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA. We examined climatic, environmental, and subsurface conditions and evaluated vulnerability of ice wedges to thermokarst in undisturbed and road-affected areas. Vulnerability of ice wedges strongly depends on the structure and thickness of soil layers above ice wedges, including the active, transient, and intermediate layers. In comparison with the undisturbed area, sites adjacent to the roads had smaller average thicknesses of the protective intermediate layer (4 cm vs. 9 cm), and this layer was absent above almost 60% of ice wedges (vs. ∼45% in undisturbed areas). Despite the strong influence of infrastructure, ice-wedge degradation is a reversible process. Deepening of troughs during ice-wedge degradation leads to a substantial increase in mean annual ground temperatures but not in thaw depths. Thus, stabilization of ice wedges in the areas of cold continuous permafrost can occur despite accumulation of snow and water in the troughs. Although thermokarst is usually more severe in flooded areas, higher plant productivity, more litter, and mineral material (including road dust) accumulating in the troughs contribute to formation of the intermediate layer, which protects ice wedges from further melting. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mikhail Kanevskiy Yuri Shur D.A. (Skip) Walker Torre Jorgenson Martha K. Raynolds Jana L. Peirce Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn Georgiy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Amy L. Breen Billy Connor Ronald Daanen Anna Liljedahl Vladimir E. Romanovsky Emily Watson-Cook |
author_facet |
Mikhail Kanevskiy Yuri Shur D.A. (Skip) Walker Torre Jorgenson Martha K. Raynolds Jana L. Peirce Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn Georgiy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Amy L. Breen Billy Connor Ronald Daanen Anna Liljedahl Vladimir E. Romanovsky Emily Watson-Cook |
author_sort |
Mikhail Kanevskiy |
title |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1 |
title_short |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1 |
title_full |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1 |
title_fullStr |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, USA1 |
title_sort |
shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, prudhoe bay oilfield, alaska, usa1 |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 https://doaj.org/article/3b6f4357c8b1435c9c48d495919faff0 |
genre |
Arctic Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 8, Iss 2, Pp 498-530 (2022) |
op_relation |
doi:10.1139/as-2021-0024 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/3b6f4357c8b1435c9c48d495919faff0 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0024 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
498 |
op_container_end_page |
530 |
_version_ |
1766295004236480512 |