Long-term Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program observations in Northern Alaskan tundra

Nyland, Kelsey E.; Shiklomanov, N. I.; Streletskiy, D. A.; Nelson, Frederick E.; Klene, Anna E.; Kholodov, Alexander

doi:10.1080/1088937x.2021.1988000

Cited by 18 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Predicting slope failures in any soil-mantled landscape generally involves estimating a baseline force balance on the hillslope and tracking any temporal change in stresses in the soil. This force balance is controlled by the topography and soil thickness (Montgomery and Dietrich, 1994), which modulate slope, shear stress, and hillslope hydrology. The hydrology in turn controls the saturation state and pore pressure acting within the soil (Montgomery and Dietrich, 1994;Lu and Likos, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This force balance is controlled by the topography and soil thickness (Montgomery and Dietrich, 1994), which modulate slope, shear stress, and hillslope hydrology. The hydrology in turn controls the saturation state and pore pressure acting within the soil (Montgomery and Dietrich, 1994;Lu and Likos, 2006). Therefore, any change to the rate and volume of water supplied to a soil-mantled hillslope will change the stress balance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Patterns and rates of soil movement and shallow failures across several small watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Thawing permafrost can alter topography, ecosystems, and sediment and carbon fluxes, but predicting landscape evolution of permafrost-influenced watersheds in response to warming and/or hydrological changes remains an unsolved challenge. Sediment flux and slope instability in sloping saturated soils have been commonly predicted from topographic metrics (e.g., slope, drainage area). In addition to topographic factors, cohesion imparted by soil and vegetation and melting ground ice may also control spatial trends in slope stability, but the distribution of ground ice is poorly constrained and hard to predict. To address whether slope stability and surface displacements follow topographic-based predictions, we document recent drivers of permafrost sediment flux present on a landscape in western Alaska that include creep, solifluction, gullying, and catastrophic hillslope failures ranging in size from a few meters to tens of meters, and we find evidence of rapid and substantial landscape change on an annual timescale. We quantify the timing and rate of surface movements using a multi-pronged, multi-scalar dataset including aerial surveys, interannual GPS surveys, synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR), and climate data. Despite clear visual evidence of downslope soil transport of solifluction lobes, we find that the interannual downslope surface displacement of these features does not outpace downslope displacement of soil in locations where lobes are absent (downslope movement means: 7 cm yr−1 for lobes over 2 years vs. 10 cm yr−1 in landscape positions without lobes over 1 year). Annual displacements do not appear related to slope, drainage area, or modeled total solar radiation but are likely related to soil thickness, and volumetric sediment fluxes are high compared to temperate landscapes of comparable bedrock lithology. Time series of InSAR displacements show accelerated movement in late summer, associated with intense rainfall and/or deep thaw. While mapped slope failures do cluster at slope–area thresholds, a simple slope stability model driven with hydraulic conductivities representative of throughflow in mineral and organic soil drastically overpredicts the occurrence of slope failures. This mismatch implies permafrost hillslopes have unaccounted-for cohesion and/or throughflow pathways, perhaps modulated by vegetation, which stabilize slopes against high rainfall. Our results highlight the breadth and complexity of soil transport processes in Arctic landscapes and demonstrate the utility of using a range of synergistic data collection methods to observe multiple scales of landscape change, which can aid in predicting periglacial landscape evolution.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns and rates of soil movement and shallow failures across several small watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Active layer thickness is measured at nine locations within the Kuparuk River basin (Figure 2) (Nyland et al., 2021). The measurements used here were made by inserting small‐diameter metal probes to point of refusal at regular intervals along grids or transects of side‐length ranging from 100 to 1,000 m. Mechanical probing is supplemented by thermistors measuring soil temperature at four sites.…”

Section: Application Of Theory To Kuparuk River Basin Streamflow and ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Linear trend in active layer thickness from field measurements in the Kuparuk River basin provided by the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program (Nyland et al., 2021) (blue error bars and trend lines) compared with linear trend in active groundwater layer thickness predicted with baseflow recession analysis (BFRA) (Equation ) (red error bars and trend lines). Error bars for CALM data are two standard errors scaled by a critical t ‐value (95% confidence intervals); sample size varies from one site (Toolik LTER) (1990 and 1991) to nine (1995–2020) as additional monitoring sites were established.…”

Section: Application Of Theory To Kuparuk River Basin Streamflow and ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting Permafrost Active Layer Thickness Change From Nonlinear Baseflow Recession

Cooper

Zhou

Bennett

et al. 2023

Water Resources Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Permafrost underlies about one fifth of the global land area and affects ground stability, freshwater runoff, soil chemistry, and surface‐atmosphere gas exchange. The depth of thawed ground overlying permafrost (active layer thickness) has broadly increased across the Arctic in recent decades, coincident with a period of increased streamflow, especially the lowest flows (baseflow). Mechanistic links between active layer thickness and baseflow have recently been explored using linear reservoir theory, but most watersheds behave as nonlinear reservoirs. We derive theoretical nonlinear relationships between long‐term average saturated soil thickness trueη‾ $\overline{\eta }$ (proxy for active layer thickness) and long‐term average baseflow. When applied to 38 years of daily streamflow data for the Kuparuk River basin on the North Slope of Alaska, the theory predicts trueη‾ $\overline{\eta }$ increased 0.17±0.220.25em[2σ] $0.17\pm 0.22\,[2\sigma ]$ cm a−1 between 1983 and 2020 (6.4±8.4 $6.4\pm 8.4$ cm total). The rate of increase nearly doubled to 0.29±0.31 $0.29\pm 0.31$ cm a−1 between 1990 and 2020, during which time local field measurements from Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring sites indicate the active layer increased 0.31±0.22 $0.31\pm 0.22$ cm a−1. The predicted rate of increase more than doubled again between 2002 and 2020, outpacing a near doubling of observed active layer thickening, consistent with trends in terrestrial water storage inferred from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite gravimetry and Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications climate reanalysis. Overall, hydrologic change is accelerating in the Kuparuk River basin, and we provide a theoretical framework for estimating basin‐scale changes in active layer water storage from streamflow measurements.

show abstract

“…CC BY 4.0 License. and Scandinavia (Strand et al, 2021), West Siberia (Smith et al, 2021) and the interior of Alaska (Nyland et al, 2021). The lack of a significant change in the ALT on the Alaskan North Slope and the Mackenzie River delta has been (partially) attributed to the effect of thaw consolidation following the melting of ice in the transient layer at the boundary between the active layer and the permafrost table (Shiklomanov et al, 2013;Streletsky et al, 2017;O'Neill et al, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Permafrost degradation at two monitored palsa mires in north-west Finland

Verdonen

Störmer

Korpelainen

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Palsas and peat plateaus are expected to disappear from many regions, including Finnish Lapland. However, detailed long-term monitoring data of the degradation process on palsas are scarce. Here, we present the results of the aerial photography time series analysis (1960–2021) and annual RTK-GNSS and active layer monitoring (2007–2021) at two palsa sites (Peera and Laassaniemi) located in north-west Finland. The emphasis is on detailed change detection for the period covered by Unmanned Aerial System surveys (2016–2021) and connections to climate . At both sites, the decrease in palsa area by -77 % to -90 % since 1960 and height by -16 % to -49 % since 2007 indicate substantial permafrost degradation throughout the study periods . The area loss rates are mainly connected to winter air temperature changes at Peera and winter precipitation changes at Laassaniemi. The active layer thickness (ALT) has varied each year with no significant trend and is related mainly to snow depths and summer air temperatures at Peera. At Laassaniemi, the ALT is weakly related to climate and has been decreasing in the middle part of the palsa during the past eight years despite the continuous decrease in palsa volume. Our findings imply that the ALT in the inner parts of palsas do not necessarily reflect the overall permafrost conditions and underline the importance of surface position monitoring alongside the active layer measurements. The results also showed a negative relationship between the ALT and snow cover onset, indicating the complexity of climate–permafrost feedbacks in palsa mires.

show abstract

Long-term Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program observations in Northern Alaskan tundra

Cited by 18 publications

References 51 publications

Patterns and rates of soil movement and shallow failures across several small watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Patterns and rates of soil movement and shallow failures across several small watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Detecting Permafrost Active Layer Thickness Change From Nonlinear Baseflow Recession

Permafrost degradation at two monitored palsa mires in north-west Finland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About