The Classification and Geomorphic Implications of Thaw Lakes on the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska

Sellmann, Paul V.; Brown, Jerry; Lewellen, Robert I; Mckim, H. L.; Merry, C. L.

doi:10.21236/ada021226

Cited by 159 publications

(188 citation statements)

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“…There are similar type depressions that underlie modern thaw lakes capped with lake ice at Alaska's northern coast which are called 'thermokarst inner basins' according to Sellmann et al [24] (Fig. 8).…”

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This applicable analogy is credible for several reasons. The environmental setting of both landforms is very similar: the marine plain foundation underlying the thaw lakes is mostly composed of finegrained sediment encompassing silt and sandy silt [24], while 39.4% silt and 33.9% sand comprise most of the till [20]. Used by permission of the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS)).…”

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…plain's foundation of the DeKalb mounds [20]. Added to this fact is that fine-grained sediment have the highest ground ice content within cold-climatic realms [25], which becomes significant in this discussion since the foundation of the thaw lakes harbors permafrost and ground ice [24], while the foundation of the DeKalb mounds maintained these same environmental conditions during Wisconsinan time [26]. Sellmann et al [24] stated that a critical thaw depth > 2 m of lake water is needed to thaw out ground ice within the foundation of a thaw lake in creating an inner thaw bulb leading to additional thermokarst subsidence, or a 'thermokarst inner basin'.…”

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 'thermokarst inner basin' is an early stage of thermokarst formed within a larger thaw lake that is already in its thermokarstic mature stage. It (the inner basin) eventually matures by widening its own borders through thaw of the permafrost until they expand towards the lake margins of the larger thaw lake, which ultimately increases the depth of the larger thaw lake [24]. Another example of this is a study by Pewe [27, figs.…”

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Later widening and broadening of the thermokarst pit through bank retreat because of thermoslumping, matures it into the form of a thaw lake [27, fig. 60] which can extend to > 6 km length [24]. Thus, the infancy of DeKalb mound evolution includes its initial, water-filled subglacial cavity giving birth to thermokarst pits, while continued thaw widened those pits into their present sizes before the onset of glacio-lacustrine sedimentation.…”

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glacial Karst Aspects About the DeKalb Mounds in Illinois, USA

Iannicelli¹

2015

TOGEOJ

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Abstract:The glacial dead-ice origin of the DeKalb mounds in DeKalb County, Illinois, USA, is advanced in this study by discussing it within the context of late Wisconsinan glacial karst. Glacial karst is glacial dead-ice topography that resembles carbonate bedrock karst topography. The only difference here is that thermo-erosion or melting of ice by groundwater causes glacial karst, while dissolution of carbonates by groundwater causes bedrock karst. For example, bedrock karst such as haystack hills, dolines and entranceless caves analogously match up to stagnant glacial ice blocks with supraglacial ice pits and entranceless glacial caves. Entranceless bedrock caves are caves with no opening (entranceway) that is big enough for a human, yet contain water and/or accumulations of silt and clay. Although stagnant glacial ice blocks and supraglacial ice pits have been discussed in the literature, entranceless glacial caves is an undeveloped concept which is expounded in this study. An entranceless glacial cave is actually a subglacial/englacial, water-filled cavity formed by thermo-erosion due to active-layer groundwater/talik piping laterally seeping out of the adjoining terrain and into a body of glacial ice, as seen in modern glaciers of Antarctica. This type of water-filled cavity can also be classified as a subglacial or englacial lake. The study also discusses relationships to embryonic DeKalb mounds such as: why a localized part of the continental ice sheet degenerated into stagnant ice blocks; and the Wisconsinan creation of one or more steep depressions in the till plain underlying a DeKalb mound.

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Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contact Between the Basal Till And Lacustrine Sediment/diamimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glacial Karst Aspects About the DeKalb Mounds in Illinois, USA

Iannicelli¹

2015

TOGEOJ

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Permafrost Hydrology

Hinzman

Kane

Woo

2005

Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences

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Permafrost is earth material that has temperature at or below 0°C for at least two consecutive summers. Above the permafrost is the active layer, a zone that freezes in winter and thaws in summer. Even though the principles governing water movement in permafrost areas are the same as those in more temperate regions, interactions of extremes in climate and the land surface characteristics render permafrost hydrology different from the hydrology of temperate latitudes. Ice‐rich permafrost prevents infiltration of rainfall or snowmelt water, often maintaining a moist to saturated active layer where the permafrost table is shallow. Most hydrologic activities are confined above ground or in the thin active layer, which supplies summer moisture to plants and for evaporative flux. Limited storage capacity of the thawed zone does not support extended baseflow in a stream, though the proportion of baseflow increases as the percentage of permafrost extent decreases. In areas where permafrost is discontinuous or where it has thawed substantially near the surface, local hydrology may display a marked different character as there are stronger exchanges between the surface water and the ground water system, or water may drain laterally resulting in drier surface conditions. Runoff paths range from interhummock cracks, soil pipes, water tracks to distinct channels; and permafrost affects the ground water and contaminant migration pathways. Understanding the interdependence of permafrost, hydrology, and ecosystems is critically important to enable accurate projections of future conditions in the high latitudes.

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Identifying multiscale zonation and assessing the relative importance of polygon geomorphology on carbon fluxes in an Arctic tundra ecosystem

et al. 2015

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We develop a multiscale zonation approach to characterize the spatial variability of Arctic polygonal ground geomorphology and to assess the relative controls of these elements on land surface and subsurface properties and carbon fluxes. Working within an ice wedge polygonal region near Barrow, Alaska, we consider two scales of zonation: polygon features (troughs, centers, and rims of polygons) that are nested within different polygon types (high, flat, and low centered). In this study, we first delineated polygons using a digital elevation map and clustered the polygons into four types along two transects, using geophysical and kite-based landscape-imaging data sets. We extrapolated those data-defined polygon types to all the polygons over the study site, using the polygon statistics extracted from the digital elevation map. Based on the point measurements, we characterized the distribution of vegetation, hydrological, thermal, and geochemical properties, as well as carbon fluxes, all as a function of polygon types and polygon features. Results show that nested polygon geomorphic zonation-polygon types and polygon features-can be used to represent distinct distributions of carbon fluxes and associated properties, as well as covariability among those properties. Importantly, the results indicate that polygon types have more power to explain the variations in those properties than polygon features. The approach is expected to be useful for improved system understanding, site characterization, and parameterization of numerical models aimed at predicting ecosystem feedbacks to the climate.

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The Classification and Geomorphic Implications of Thaw Lakes on the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska

Cited by 159 publications

References 11 publications

Glacial Karst Aspects About the DeKalb Mounds in Illinois, USA

Glacial Karst Aspects About the DeKalb Mounds in Illinois, USA

Permafrost Hydrology

Identifying multiscale zonation and assessing the relative importance of polygon geomorphology on carbon fluxes in an Arctic tundra ecosystem

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