Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway
International audience Abstract. Subarctic peatlands underlain by permafrost contain significant amounts of organic carbon. Our ability to quantify the evolution of such permafrost landscapes in numerical models is critical for providing robust predictions of the environmental and climatic changes t...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-03964366 https://hal.science/hal-03964366/document https://hal.science/hal-03964366/file/tc-15-3423-2021.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 |
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ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-03964366v1 2023-05-15T16:37:31+02:00 Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway Martin, Léo, Nitzbon, Jan Scheer, Johanna Aas, Kjetil, Eiken, Trond Langer, Moritz Filhol, Simon Etzelmüller, Bernd Westermann, Sebastian Utrecht University Utrecht University of Oslo (UiO) Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Partenaires INRAE Humboldt University Of Berlin Danmarks Tekniske Universitet = Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Department of Geosciences Oslo Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Oslo University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO) 2021 https://hal.science/hal-03964366 https://hal.science/hal-03964366/document https://hal.science/hal-03964366/file/tc-15-3423-2021.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 en eng HAL CCSD Copernicus info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 hal-03964366 https://hal.science/hal-03964366 https://hal.science/hal-03964366/document https://hal.science/hal-03964366/file/tc-15-3423-2021.pdf doi:10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1994-0424 EISSN: 1994-0416 The Cryosphere https://hal.science/hal-03964366 The Cryosphere, 2021, 15 (7), pp.3423-3442. ⟨10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021⟩ [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2021 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 2023-02-22T00:54:24Z International audience Abstract. Subarctic peatlands underlain by permafrost contain significant amounts of organic carbon. Our ability to quantify the evolution of such permafrost landscapes in numerical models is critical for providing robust predictions of the environmental and climatic changes to come. Yet, the accuracy of large-scale predictions has so far been hampered by small-scale physical processes that create a high spatial variability of thermal surface conditions, affecting the ground thermal regime and thus permafrost degradation patterns. In this regard, a better understanding of the small-scale interplay between microtopography and lateral fluxes of heat, water and snow can be achieved by field monitoring and process-based numerical modeling. Here, we quantify the topographic changes of the Šuoššjávri peat plateau (northern Norway) over a three-year period using drone-based repeat high-resolution photogrammetry. Our results show thermokarst degradation is concentrated on the edges of the plateau, representing 77 % of observed subsidence, while most of the inner plateau surface exhibits no detectable subsidence. Based on detailed investigation of eight zones of the plateau edge, we show that this edge degradation corresponds to an annual volume change of 0.13±0.07 m3 yr−1 per meter of retreating edge (orthogonal to the retreat direction). Using the CryoGrid3 land surface model, we show that these degradation patterns can be reproduced in a modeling framework that implements lateral redistribution of snow, subsurface water and heat, as well as ground subsidence due to melting of excess ice. By performing a sensitivity test for snow depths on the plateau under steady-state climate forcing, we obtain a threshold behavior for the start of edge degradation. Small snow depth variations (from 0 to 30 cm) result in highly different degradation behavior, from stability to fast degradation. For plateau snow depths in the range of field measurements, the simulated annual volume changes are broadly in ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Northern Norway Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic The Cryosphere Thermokarst Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Norway The Cryosphere 15 7 3423 3442 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences Martin, Léo, Nitzbon, Jan Scheer, Johanna Aas, Kjetil, Eiken, Trond Langer, Moritz Filhol, Simon Etzelmüller, Bernd Westermann, Sebastian Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway |
topic_facet |
[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
description |
International audience Abstract. Subarctic peatlands underlain by permafrost contain significant amounts of organic carbon. Our ability to quantify the evolution of such permafrost landscapes in numerical models is critical for providing robust predictions of the environmental and climatic changes to come. Yet, the accuracy of large-scale predictions has so far been hampered by small-scale physical processes that create a high spatial variability of thermal surface conditions, affecting the ground thermal regime and thus permafrost degradation patterns. In this regard, a better understanding of the small-scale interplay between microtopography and lateral fluxes of heat, water and snow can be achieved by field monitoring and process-based numerical modeling. Here, we quantify the topographic changes of the Šuoššjávri peat plateau (northern Norway) over a three-year period using drone-based repeat high-resolution photogrammetry. Our results show thermokarst degradation is concentrated on the edges of the plateau, representing 77 % of observed subsidence, while most of the inner plateau surface exhibits no detectable subsidence. Based on detailed investigation of eight zones of the plateau edge, we show that this edge degradation corresponds to an annual volume change of 0.13±0.07 m3 yr−1 per meter of retreating edge (orthogonal to the retreat direction). Using the CryoGrid3 land surface model, we show that these degradation patterns can be reproduced in a modeling framework that implements lateral redistribution of snow, subsurface water and heat, as well as ground subsidence due to melting of excess ice. By performing a sensitivity test for snow depths on the plateau under steady-state climate forcing, we obtain a threshold behavior for the start of edge degradation. Small snow depth variations (from 0 to 30 cm) result in highly different degradation behavior, from stability to fast degradation. For plateau snow depths in the range of field measurements, the simulated annual volume changes are broadly in ... |
author2 |
Utrecht University Utrecht University of Oslo (UiO) Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Partenaires INRAE Humboldt University Of Berlin Danmarks Tekniske Universitet = Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Department of Geosciences Oslo Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Oslo University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Martin, Léo, Nitzbon, Jan Scheer, Johanna Aas, Kjetil, Eiken, Trond Langer, Moritz Filhol, Simon Etzelmüller, Bernd Westermann, Sebastian |
author_facet |
Martin, Léo, Nitzbon, Jan Scheer, Johanna Aas, Kjetil, Eiken, Trond Langer, Moritz Filhol, Simon Etzelmüller, Bernd Westermann, Sebastian |
author_sort |
Martin, Léo, |
title |
Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway |
title_short |
Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway |
title_full |
Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway |
title_fullStr |
Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway |
title_sort |
lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern norway |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-03964366 https://hal.science/hal-03964366/document https://hal.science/hal-03964366/file/tc-15-3423-2021.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Ice Northern Norway Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic The Cryosphere Thermokarst |
genre_facet |
Ice Northern Norway Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic The Cryosphere Thermokarst |
op_source |
ISSN: 1994-0424 EISSN: 1994-0416 The Cryosphere https://hal.science/hal-03964366 The Cryosphere, 2021, 15 (7), pp.3423-3442. ⟨10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 hal-03964366 https://hal.science/hal-03964366 https://hal.science/hal-03964366/document https://hal.science/hal-03964366/file/tc-15-3423-2021.pdf doi:10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
3423 |
op_container_end_page |
3442 |
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1766027815276249088 |