Current rates and mechanisms of subsea permafrost degradation in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Shakhova, Natalia; Semiletov, I. P.; Gustafsson, Örjan; Сергиенко, В. И.; Lobkovsky, L. I.; Dudarev, Oleg; Tumskoy, Vladimir; Grigoriev, M. N.; Mazurov, Aleksey; Salyuk, A.; Ananiev, R. A.; Koshurnikov, Andrey; Kosmach, Denis; Charkin, Alexander; Dmitrevsky, Nicolay; Karnaukh, V.; Gunar, Alexey Y.; Meluzov, A. А.; Chernykh, Denis

doi:10.1038/ncomms15872

Cited by 143 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Subsea permafrost degradation rates derived from the CryoGRID2 model results with salt diffusion for the Bykovsky Peninsula (scenario A), and the geoelectric results are compared to published subsea permafrost degradation rates in Siberia. The studies include long‐term (i.e., since inundation) and recent degradation rates from borehole work at Muostakh Island (Shakhova et al, ; Kunitsky, ), as well as degradation rates derived from a borehole at the Buor‐Khaya Peninsula (Overduin et al, ), several boreholes in the Western Laptev Sea (Overduin et al, ), and geoelectric results offshore of Muostakh Island (Overduin et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The thickness of subsea permafrost on the Laptev Sea shelf can be hundreds of meters thick (Romanovskii et al, ), and its presence may extend up to 350 km offshore (Soloviev, ). Offshore of Muostakh Island, repeated borehole measurements separated by 31–32 years indicated an ice‐bearing subsea permafrost degradation rate of 0.14 m/year (Shakhova et al, ). Furthermore, geoelectric observations offshore of Muostakh Island showed that the degradation rate of ice‐bearing subsea permafrost decreased from 0.4 m/year immediately after inundation to 0.1 m/year 60–110 years after submergence from coastal erosion (Overduin et al, ).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Heat and Salt Flow in Subsea Permafrost Modeled with CryoGRID2

et al. 2019

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Thawing of subsea permafrost can impact offshore infrastructure, affect coastal erosion, and release permafrost organic matter. Thawing is usually modeled as the result of heat transfer, although salt diffusion may play an important role in marine settings. To better quantify nearshore subsea permafrost thawing, we applied the CryoGRID2 heat diffusion model and coupled it to a salt diffusion model. We simulated coastline retreat and subsea permafrost evolution as it develops through successive stages of a thawing sequence at the Bykovsky Peninsula, Siberia. Sensitivity analyses for seawater salinity were performed to compare the results for the Bykovsky Peninsula with those of typical Arctic seawater. For the Bykovsky Peninsula, the modeled ice‐bearing permafrost table (IBPT) for ice‐rich sand and an erosion rate of 0.25 m/year was 16.7 m below the seabed 350 m offshore. The model outputs were compared to the IBPT depth estimated from coastline retreat and electrical resistivity surveys perpendicular to and crossing the shoreline of the Bykovsky Peninsula. The interpreted geoelectric data suggest that the IBPT dipped to 15–20 m below the seabed at 350 m offshore. Both results suggest that cold saline water forms beneath grounded ice and floating sea ice in shallow water, causing cryotic benthic temperatures. The freezing point depression produced by salt diffusion can delay or prevent ice formation in the sediment and enhance the IBPT degradation rate. Therefore, salt diffusion may facilitate the release of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere and considerably affect the design of offshore and coastal infrastructure in subsea permafrost areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat and Salt Flow in Subsea Permafrost Modeled with CryoGRID2

et al. 2019

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“…Remobilization of old permafrost carbon to Chukchi Sea sediments during the end of the last deglaciation. The current shallow sea north of Siberia was then above sea level, exposed to the atmosphere and hosted permafrost-dominated tundra landscapes (Hubberten et al, 2004;Romanovskii et al, 2000;Shakhova et al, 2017). The current shallow sea north of Siberia was then above sea level, exposed to the atmosphere and hosted permafrost-dominated tundra landscapes (Hubberten et al, 2004;Romanovskii et al, 2000;Shakhova et al, 2017).…”

Section: Citationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remobilization of Old Permafrost Carbon to Chukchi Sea Sediments During the End of the Last Deglaciation

Martens

Wild

Pearce

et al. 2019

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Climate warming is expected to destabilize permafrost carbon (PF‐C) by thaw‐erosion and deepening of the seasonally thawed active layer and thereby promote PF‐C mineralization to CO 2 and CH 4 . A similar PF‐C remobilization might have contributed to the increase in atmospheric CO 2 during deglacial warming after the last glacial maximum. Using carbon isotopes and terrestrial biomarkers (Δ 14 C, δ 13 C, and lignin phenols), this study quantifies deposition of terrestrial carbon originating from permafrost in sediments from the Chukchi Sea (core SWERUS‐L2‐4‐PC1). The sediment core reconstructs remobilization of permafrost carbon during the late Allerød warm period starting at 13,000 cal years before present (BP), the Younger Dryas, and the early Holocene warming until 11,000 cal years BP and compares this period with the late Holocene, from 3,650 years BP until present. Dual‐carbon‐isotope‐based source apportionment demonstrates that Ice Complex Deposit—ice‐ and carbon‐rich permafrost from the late Pleistocene (also referred to as Yedoma)—was the dominant source of organic carbon (66 ± 8%; mean ± standard deviation) to sediments during the end of the deglaciation, with fluxes more than twice as high (8.0 ± 4.6 g·m −2 ·year −1 ) as in the late Holocene (3.1 ± 1.0 g·m −2 ·year −1 ). These results are consistent with late deglacial PF‐C remobilization observed in a Laptev Sea record, yet in contrast with PF‐C sources, which at that location were dominated by active layer material from the Lena River watershed. Release of dormant PF‐C from erosion of coastal permafrost during the end of the last deglaciation indicates vulnerability of Ice Complex Deposit in response to future warming and sea level changes.

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“…Thus, water heating leads to additional increasing pCO 2 in the surface water. We also suggest that progression of sub-sea permafrost thawing and decrease in ice extent could result in a significant increase in carbon discharge from the sea floor (Nicolsky and Shakhova, 2010;Shakhova et al, 2014Shakhova et al, , 2015Shakhova et al, , 2017Vonk et al, 2014) producing additional CO 2 .…”

Section: The Laptev Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatial and interannual dynamics of the surface water carbonate system and air–sea CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes in the outer shelf and slope of the Eurasian Arctic Ocean

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The Arctic is undergoing dramatic changes which cover the entire range of natural processes, from extreme increases in the temperatures of air, soil, and water, to changes in the cryosphere, the biodiversity of Arctic waters, and land vegetation. Small changes in the largest marine carbon pool, the dissolved inorganic carbon pool, can have a profound impact on the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) flux between the ocean and the atmosphere, and the feedback of this flux to climate. Knowledge of relevant processes in the Arctic seas improves the evaluation and projection of carbon cycle dynamics under current conditions of rapid climate change.Investigation of the CO 2 system in the outer shelf and continental slope waters of the Eurasian Arctic seas (the Barents, Kara, Laptev, and East Siberian seas) during 2006, 2007, and 2009 revealed a general trend in the surface water partial pressure of CO 2 (pCO 2 ) distribution, which manifested as an increase in pCO 2 values eastward. The existence of this trend was defined by different oceanographic and biogeochemical regimes in the western and eastern parts of the study area; the trend is likely increasing due to a combination of factors determined by contemporary change in the Arctic climate, each change in turn evoking a series of synergistic effects. A high-resolution in situ investigation of the carbonate system parameters of the four Arctic seas was carried out in the warm season of 2007; this year was characterized by the next-to-lowest historic sea-ice extent in the Arctic Ocean, on satellite record, to that date. The study showed the different responses of the seawater carbonate system to the environment changes in the western vs. the eastern Eurasian Arctic seas. The large, open, highly productive water area in the northern Barents Sea enhances atmospheric CO 2 uptake. In contrast, the uptake of CO 2 was strongly weakened in the outer shelf and slope waters of the East Siberian Arctic seas under the 2007 environmental conditions. The surface seawater appears in equilibrium or slightly supersaturated by CO 2 relative to atmosphere because of the increasing influence of river runoff and its input of terrestrial organic matter that mineralizes, in combination with the high surface water temperature during sea-ice-free conditions. This investigation shows the importance of processes that vary on small scales, both in time and space, for estimating the air-sea exchange of CO 2 . It stresses the need for highresolution coverage of ocean observations as well as time series. Furthermore, time series must include multi-year studies in the dynamic regions of the Arctic Ocean during these times of environmental change.

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Current rates and mechanisms of subsea permafrost degradation in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Cited by 143 publications

References 46 publications

Heat and Salt Flow in Subsea Permafrost Modeled with CryoGRID2

Heat and Salt Flow in Subsea Permafrost Modeled with CryoGRID2

Remobilization of Old Permafrost Carbon to Chukchi Sea Sediments During the End of the Last Deglaciation

The spatial and interannual dynamics of the surface water carbonate system and air–sea CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes in the outer shelf and slope of the Eurasian Arctic Ocean

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Current rates and mechanisms of subsea permafrost degradation in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Cited by 143 publications

References 46 publications

Heat and Salt Flow in Subsea Permafrost Modeled with CryoGRID2

Heat and Salt Flow in Subsea Permafrost Modeled with CryoGRID2

Remobilization of Old Permafrost Carbon to Chukchi Sea Sediments During the End of the Last Deglaciation

The spatial and interannual dynamics of the surface water carbonate system and air–sea CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fluxes in the outer shelf and slope of the Eurasian Arctic Ocean

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The spatial and interannual dynamics of the surface water carbonate system and air–sea CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes in the outer shelf and slope of the Eurasian Arctic Ocean