Rapid Fluvio-Thermal Erosion of a Yedoma Permafrost Cliff in the Lena River Delta

Fuchs, Matthias; Nitze, Ingmar; Strauß, Jens; Günther, Frank; Wetterich, Sebastian; Kizyakov, Alexander I.; Fritz, Michael; Opel, Thomas; Grigoriev, Mikhail N.; Maksimov, Georgii; Grosse, Guido

doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00336

Cited by 52 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 91 publications

(141 reference statements)

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“…1) and is the largest Arctic river delta (Walker et al, 1998). The terrestrial surface of the delta differentiates into three geomorphological units (or terraces; Grigoriev, 1993). The Holocene-aged first terrace comprises the north-eastern and the south-western parts of the delta and is mainly covered by wet polygonal tundra and thermokarst basins (Morgenstern et al, 2008).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The average annual rainfall amounts to 169 mm and the average annual winter snow cover to 0.3 m (2002Boike et al, 2019). Between 2006 and 2017, permafrost has warmed by 1.3 • C at the zero-annual-amplitude depth of 20.75 m (Boike et al, 2019), while the permafrost maximum depth in the region reaches 500-600 m (Grigoriev, 1993). Unfrozen underground (talik) is, however, assumed below the main channels of the Lena delta and below thermokarst lakes exceeding 2 m water depth.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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The cryostratigraphy of the Yedoma cliff of Sobo-Sise Island (Lena delta) reveals permafrost dynamics in the central Laptev Sea coastal region during the last 52 kyr

et al. 2020

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Abstract. The present study examines the formation history and cryolithological properties of the late-Pleistocene Yedoma Ice Complex (IC) and its Holocene cover in the eastern Lena delta on Sobo-Sise Island. The sedimentary sequence was continuously sampled at 0.5 m resolution at a vertical Yedoma cliff starting from 24.2 m above river level (a.r.l.). The sequence differentiates into three cryostratigraphic units: Unit A, dated from ca. 52 to 28 cal kyr BP; Unit B, dated from ca. 28 to 15 cal kyr BP; Unit C, dated from ca. 7 to 0 cal kyr BP. Three chronologic gaps in the record are striking. The hiatus during the interstadial marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 (36–29 cal kyr BP) as well as during stadial MIS 2 (20–17 cal kyr BP) might be related to fluvial erosion and/or changed discharge patterns of the Lena river caused by repeated outburst floods from the glacial Lake Vitim in southern Siberia along the Lena river valley towards the Arctic Ocean. The hiatus during the MIS 2–1 transition (15–7 cal kyr BP) is a commonly observed feature in permafrost chronologies due to intense thermokarst activity of the deglacial period. The chronologic gaps of the Sobo-Sise Yedoma record are similarly found at two neighbouring Yedoma IC sites on Bykovsky Peninsula and Kurungnakh-Sise Island and are most likely of regional importance. The three cryostratigraphic units of the Sobo-Sise Yedoma exhibit distinct signatures in properties of their clastic, organic, and ice components. Higher permafrost aggradation rates of 1 m kyr−1 with higher organic-matter (OM) stocks (29 ± 15 kg C m−3, 2.2 ± 1.0 kg N m−3; Unit A) and mainly coarse silt are found for the interstadial MIS 3 if compared to the stadial MIS 2 with 0.7 m kyr−1 permafrost aggradation, lower OM stocks (14 ± 8 kg C m−3, 1.4 ± 0.4 kg N m−3; Unit B), and pronounced peaks in the coarse-silt and medium-sand fractions. Geochemical signatures of intra-sedimental ice reflect the differences in summer evaporation and moisture regime by higher ion content and less depleted ratios of stable δ18O and stable δD isotopes but lower deuterium excess (d) values during interstadial MIS 3 if compared to stadial MIS 2. The δ18O and δD composition of MIS 3 and MIS 2 ice wedges shows characteristic well-depleted values and low d values, while MIS 1 ice wedges have elevated mean d values between 11 ‰ and 15 ‰ and surprisingly low δ18O and δD values. Hence, the isotopic difference between late-Pleistocene and Holocene ice wedges is more pronounced in d than in δ values. The present study of the permafrost exposed at the Sobo-Sise Yedoma cliff provides a comprehensive cryostratigraphic inventory, insights into permafrost aggradation, and degradation over the last approximately 52 kyr as well as their climatic and morphodynamic controls on the regional scale of the central Laptev Sea coastal region in NE Siberia.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The cryostratigraphy of the Yedoma cliff of Sobo-Sise Island (Lena delta) reveals permafrost dynamics in the central Laptev Sea coastal region during the last 52 kyr

et al. 2020

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“…15,16,[35][36][37][38] Erosional processes of all kinds result in mobilization, transport, and redeposition of organic carbon. [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] Most studies of yedoma erosion relate to sea shores, whereas information on rates of riverbank erosion and volumes of reworked material is somewhat limited, but is important for estimating sediment transport and organic and nutrient fluxes into river channels and the Arctic Ocean. In the Russian Arctic, long-term rates of fluvio-thermal F I G U R E 2 Yedoma occurrence (qualitative estimate of areas occupied by yedoma deposits) in Alaska within different permafrost zones and location of the Itkillik River study site (modified from Kanevskiy et al 14,28 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Russian Arctic, long-term rates of fluvio-thermal F I G U R E 2 Yedoma occurrence (qualitative estimate of areas occupied by yedoma deposits) in Alaska within different permafrost zones and location of the Itkillik River study site (modified from Kanevskiy et al 14,28 ). Other riverbank yedoma sites in northern Alaska mentioned in the paper: 1, 2-Colville River, 72,73 3-Titaluk River, 26,31 and 4-Ikpikpuk River 74 [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] erosion of yedoma riverbanks vary from 2 to 9 m/yr, 48,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56] similar to the long-term rates of coastal erosion in the same region. 57,58 In North America, most riverbank erosion studies in permafrost regions have been performed outside of the yedoma region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluvio‐thermal erosion and thermal denudation in the yedoma region of northern Alaska: Revisiting the Itkillik River exposure

Shur

Jones

Kanevskiy

et al. 2021

Permafrost & Periglacial

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Riverbank erosion in yedoma regions strongly affects landscape evolution, biogeochemical cycling, sediment transport, and organic and nutrient fluxes to the Arctic Ocean. Since 2006, we have studied the 35-m-high Itkillik River yedoma bluff in northern Alaska, whose retreat rate during 1995-2010 was up to 19 m/yr, which is among the highest rates worldwide. This study extends our previous observations of bluff evolution and shows that average bluff-top retreat rates decreased from 8.7-10.0 m/yr during 2011-2014 to 4.5-5.8 m/yr during 2015-2019, and bluff-base retreat rates for the same time period decreased from 4.7-7.5 m/yr to 1.3-1.7 m/yr, correspondingly. Bluff evolution initially involves rapid fluvio-thermal erosion at the base and block collapse, following by slowdown in river erosion and continuing thermal denudation of the retreating headwall with formation of baydzherakhs. Eventually, input of sediment and water from the headwall diminishes, vegetation develops, and slope gradually stabilizes. The step change in the fluvial-geomorphic system has resulted in a 60% decline in the volumetric mobilization of sediment and organic carbon between 2011 and 2019. Our findings stress the importance of sustained observations at key permafrost region study sites to elucidate critical information related to past and potential landscape evolution in the Arctic.

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“…Thawing of ice-rich sediments has severe geomorphological consequences for the landscape (Kokelj and Jorgenson, 2013). Striking examples are collapsing river and coastal bluffs (Fuchs et al, 2020;Günther et al, 2015;Kanevskiy et al, 2016). But a spatially more important process is thermokarst lake formation, caused by surface subsidence due to excess ground ice melting in Yedoma deposits leading to the formation of vast thermokarst depressions, which not only affects the superficial soil horizons but also deep mineral horizons (Strauss et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineral element stocks in the Yedoma domain: a first assessment in ice-rich permafrost regions

Monhonval

Opfergelt

Mauclet

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. With permafrost thaw, significant amounts of organic carbon (OC) previously stored in frozen deposits are unlocked and become potentially available for microbial mineralization. This is particularly the case in ice-rich regions such as the Yedoma domain. Excess ground ice degradation exposes deep sediments and their OC stocks, but also mineral elements, to biogeochemical processes. Interactions of mineral elements and OC play a crucial role for OC stabilization and the fate of OC upon thaw, and thus regulate carbon dioxide and methane emissions. In addition, some mineral elements are limiting nutrients for plant growth or microbial metabolic activity. A large ongoing effort is to quantify OC stocks and their lability in permafrost regions, but the influence of mineral elements on the fate of OC or on biogeochemical nutrient cycles has received less attention. The reason is that there is a gap of knowledge on the mineral element content in permafrost regions. Here, we use a portable X-ray fluorescence device (pXRF) to provide (i) the first large-scale Yedoma domain Mineral Concentrations Assessment (YMCA) dataset (https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.922724; Monhonval et al., in review), and (ii) estimates of mineral element stocks in never thawed (since deposition) ice-rich Yedoma permafrost and previously thawed and partly refrozen Alas deposits. The pXRF method for mineral element quantification is non-destructive and offers a complement to the classical dissolution and measurement by optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in solution. This allowed a mineral element concentration (Si, Al, Fe, Ca, K, Ti, Mn, Zn, Sr and Zr) assessment on 1292 sediment samples from the Yedoma domain with lower analytical effort and affordable costs relative to the classical ICP-OES method. pXRF measured concentrations were calibrated using standard alkaline fusion and ICP-OES measurements on a subset of 144 samples (R2 from 0.725 to 0.996). The results highlight that (i) the most abundant mineral element in the Yedoma domain is Si (2739 ± 986 Gt) followed by Al, Fe, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Zr, Sr, and Zn, and that (ii) Al and Fe (598 ± 213 and 288 ± 104 Gt) are present in the same order of magnitude than OC (327–466 Gt).

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Rapid Fluvio-Thermal Erosion of a Yedoma Permafrost Cliff in the Lena River Delta

Cited by 52 publications

References 91 publications

The cryostratigraphy of the Yedoma cliff of Sobo-Sise Island (Lena delta) reveals permafrost dynamics in the central Laptev Sea coastal region during the last 52 kyr

The cryostratigraphy of the Yedoma cliff of Sobo-Sise Island (Lena delta) reveals permafrost dynamics in the central Laptev Sea coastal region during the last 52 kyr

Fluvio‐thermal erosion and thermal denudation in the yedoma region of northern Alaska: Revisiting the Itkillik River exposure

Mineral element stocks in the Yedoma domain: a first assessment in ice-rich permafrost regions

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