Articles | Volume 11, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-227-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-227-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
24 Mar 2023
Research article |
| 24 Mar 2023
| 24 Mar 2023
Patterns and rates of soil movement and shallow failures across several small watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska
Joanmarie Del Vecchio
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
Emma R. Lathrop
Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Julian B. Dann
Climate Adaptation Science Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
Christian G. Andresen
Geography Department, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Adam D. Collins
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
Michael M. Fratkin
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
Simon Zwieback
Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
Rachel C. Glade
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
Joel C. Rowland
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
Related authors
No articles found.
Jeffrey Beem-Miller, William J. Riley, Peter B. Reich, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Yuxuan Bai, Raimundo Bermudez Villanueva, Zach Brown, Abad Chabbi, Susan E. Crow, Wenxu Dong, Serita D. Frey, Paul J. Hanson, Kai Jensen, Melissa A. Knorr, Emma Lathrop, Avni Malhotra, Patrick Megonigal, Adrienne Nicotra, Andrew Nottingham, Genevieve L. Noyce, Roy L. Rich, Heidi Rodenhizer, Agustín Sarquis, Andreas Schindlbacher, Edward A. G. Schuur, Zheng Shi, Artur Stefanski, Viktoria Unger, Tana E. Wood, Yuanhe Yang, Zhijie Yang, Jizhong Zhou, Biao Zhu, and Margaret S. Torn
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-23, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-23, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
The Soil Warming to Depth Data Integration Effort (SWEDDIE) synthesizes data from deep soil warming experiments around the world (n = 23), offering new insight into warming responses of both surface and subsoils. We demonstrate that variation in soil warming with depth is driven largely by warming methodology, while soil moisture changes due to warming differ by ecosystem. This work serves a foundation for future syntheses with SWEDDIE.
Nathan Alec Conroy, Jeffrey M. Heikoop, Emma Lathrop, Dea Musa, Brent D. Newman, Chonggang Xu, Rachael E. McCaully, Carli A. Arendt, Verity G. Salmon, Amy Breen, Vladimir Romanovsky, Katrina E. Bennett, Cathy J. Wilson, and Stan D. Wullschleger
The Cryosphere, 17, 3987–4006, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3987-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3987-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study combines field observations, non-parametric statistical analyses, and thermodynamic modeling to characterize the environmental causes of the spatial variability in soil pore water solute concentrations across two Arctic catchments with varying extents of permafrost. Vegetation type, soil moisture and redox conditions, weathering and hydrologic transport, and mineral solubility were all found to be the primary drivers of the existing spatial variability of some soil pore water solutes.
Katrina E. Bennett, Greta Miller, Robert Busey, Min Chen, Emma R. Lathrop, Julian B. Dann, Mara Nutt, Ryan Crumley, Shannon L. Dillard, Baptiste Dafflon, Jitendra Kumar, W. Robert Bolton, Cathy J. Wilson, Colleen M. Iversen, and Stan D. Wullschleger
The Cryosphere, 16, 3269–3293, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3269-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3269-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In the Arctic and sub-Arctic, climate shifts are changing ecosystems, resulting in alterations in snow, shrubs, and permafrost. Thicker snow under shrubs can lead to warmer permafrost because deeper snow will insulate the ground from the cold winter. In this paper, we use modeling to characterize snow to better understand the drivers of snow distribution. Eventually, this work will be used to improve models used to study future changes in Arctic and sub-Arctic snow patterns.
Philipp Bernhard, Simon Zwieback, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 16, 2819–2835, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
With climate change, Arctic hillslopes above ice-rich permafrost are vulnerable to enhanced carbon mobilization. In this work elevation change estimates generated from satellite observations reveal a substantial acceleration of carbon mobilization on the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia between 2010 and 2021. The strong increase occurring in 2020 coincided with a severe Siberian heatwave and highlights that carbon mobilization can respond sharply and non-linearly to increasing temperatures.
Madison M. Douglas, Gen K. Li, Woodward W. Fischer, Joel C. Rowland, Preston C. Kemeny, A. Joshua West, Jon Schwenk, Anastasia P. Piliouras, Austin J. Chadwick, and Michael P. Lamb
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 421–435, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-421-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-421-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic rivers erode into permafrost and mobilize organic carbon, which can react to form greenhouse gasses or be re-buried in floodplain deposits. We collected samples on a permafrost floodplain in Alaska to determine if more carbon is eroded or deposited by river meandering. The floodplain contained a mixture of young carbon fixed by the biosphere and old, re-deposited carbon. Thus, sediment storage may allow Arctic river floodplains to retain aged organic carbon even when permafrost thaws.
Philipp Bernhard, Simon Zwieback, Nora Bergner, and Irena Hajnsek
The Cryosphere, 16, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present an investigation of retrogressive thaw slumps in 10 study sites across the Arctic. These slumps have major impacts on hydrology and ecosystems and can also reinforce climate change by the mobilization of carbon. Using time series of digital elevation models, we found that thaw slump change rates follow a specific type of distribution that is known from landslides in more temperate landscapes and that the 2D area change is strongly related to the 3D volumetric change.
Christian G. Andresen and Vanessa L. Lougheed
Biogeosciences, 18, 2649–2662, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2649-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2649-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Aquatic tundra plants dominate productivity and methane fluxes in the Arctic coastal plain. We assessed how environmental nutrient availability influences production of biomass and greenness of aquatic tundra. We found phosphorous to be the main nutrient limiting biomass productivity and greenness in Arctic aquatic grasses. This study highlights the importance of nutrient pools and mobilization between terrestrial–aquatic systems and their influence on regional carbon and energy feedbacks.
Simon Zwieback and Franz J. Meyer
The Cryosphere, 15, 2041–2055, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2041-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2041-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Thawing of ice-rich permafrost leads to subsidence and slumping, which can compromise Arctic infrastructure. However, we lack fine-scale maps of permafrost ground ice, chiefly because it is usually invisible at the surface. We show that subsidence at the end of summer serves as a
fingerprintwith which near-surface permafrost ground ice can be identified. As this can be done with satellite data, this method may help improve ground ice maps and thus sustainably steward the Arctic.
Cited articles
Alaska Climate Research Center Data Portal: https://akclimate.org/data/, last access: 23 February 2022.
Andersen, J. L., Egholm, D. L., Knudsen, M. F., Jansen, J. D., and Nielsen, S. B.: The periglacial engine of mountain erosion – Part 1: Rates of frost cracking and frost creep, Earth Surf. Dynam., 3, 447–462, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-447-2015, 2015.
Anderson, R. S.: Modeling the tor-dotted crests, bedrock edges, and parabolic profiles of high alpine surfaces of the Wind River Range, Wyoming, Geomorphology, 46, 35–58, 2002.
Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P., and Tucker, G. E.: Rock damage and regolith transport by frost: an example of climate modulation of the geomorphology of the critical zone, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 38, 299–316, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3330, 2013.
Ballantyne, C. K.: A 35-Year record of solifluction in a maritime periglacial environment, Permafrost Periglac., 24, 56–66, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1761, 2013.
Balser, A. W., Jones, J. B., and Gens, R.: Timing of retrogressive thaw slump initiation in the Noatak Basin, northwest Alaska, USA, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 119, 1106–1120, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JF002889, 2014.
Barnes, R. and Bovy, B.: r-barnes/richdem: (v2.3.1), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6050018, 2022.
Benedict, J. B.: Downslope Soil Movement in a Colorado Alpine Region: Rates, Processes, and Climatic Significance, Arctic Alpine Res., 2, 165–226, https://doi.org/10.1080/00040851.1970.12003576, 1970.
Benedict, J. B.: Frost Creep and Gelifluction Features: A Review, Quaternary Res., 6, 55–76, https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(76)90040-5, 1976.
Berardino, P., Fornaro, G., Lanari, R., Member, S., Sansosti, E., and Member, S.: A New Algorithm for Surface Deformation Monitoring Based on Small Baseline Differential SAR Interferograms, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 40, 2375–2383, 2002.
Berhe, A. A., Barnes, R. T., Six, J., and Marín-Spiotta, E.: Role of Soil Erosion in Biogeochemical Cycling of Essential Elements: Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus, Annu. Rev. Earth Pl. Sc., 46, 521–548, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-082517-010018, 2018.
Bintanja, R. and Andry, O.: Towards a rain-dominated Arctic, Nat. Clim. Change, 7, 263–267, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3240, 2017.
Bovy, B., Braun, J., and Demoulin, A.: A new numerical framework for simulating the control of weather and climate on the evolution of soil-mantled hillslopes, Geomorphology, 263, 99–112, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.03.016, 2016.
Bring, A., Fedorova, I., Dibike, Y., Hinzman, L., Mård, J., Mernild, S. H., Prowse, T., Semenova, O., Stuefer, S. L., and Woo, M. K.: Arctic terrestrial hydrology: A synthesis of processes, regional effects, and research challenges, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 121, 621–649, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JG003131, 2016.
Brown, J., Hinkel, K. M., and Nelson, F. E.: The circumpolar active layer monitoring (calm) program: Research designs and initial results, Polar Geography, 24, 166–258, https://doi.org/10.1080/10889370009377698, 2000.
Busey, B., Bolton, B., Wu, T., Wu, X., and Kang, S.: Surface Meteorology at Teller Mile 47 Watershed, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, Ongoing from 2018. Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA [data set], https://doi.org/10.5440/1781066, 2021.
Carson, M. A. and Kirkby, M. J.: Hillslope Form and Process, Cambridge University Press, 472 pp., https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756800000546, 1972.
Chen, C. W. and Zebker, H. A.: Two-dimensional phase unwrapping with use of statistical models for cost functions in nonlinear optimization, J. Opt. Soc. Am., 18, 338–351, https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.18.000338, 2001.
Clubb, F. J., Mudd, S. M., Attal, M., Milodowski, D. T., and Grieve, S. W. D.: The relationship between drainage density, erosion rate, and hilltop curvature: Implications for sediment transport processes, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 1724–1745, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003747, 2016.
Collins, A., Andresen, C., Dann, J., Lathrop, E., and Swanson, E.: L0 Data from the 2018 NGEE Arctic LiDAR and Imagery Unocuppied Aerial System Campaign at the Teller 47 Field Site, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA [data set], https://doi.org/10.5440/1671794, 2022.
Crawford, J. T. and Stanley, E. H.: Distinct Fluvial Patterns of a Headwater Stream Network Underlain by Discontinuous Permafrost, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 46, 344–354, https://doi.org/10.1657/1938-4246-46.2.344, 2014.
Del Vecchio, J.: jmdelvecchio/Teller47: v2.0.0 (v2.0.0), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7511205, 2023.
DelVecchio, J., Lathrop, E., Dann, J., Collins, A., and Rowland, J.: Orthoimagery and Shapefiles Documenting Pre- and Post-August 2019 Slope Disturbances, Teller Road Site, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 2018–2019. Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA [data set],
https://doi.org/10.5440/1886387, 2022.
Dietrich, W. E., Bellugi, D. G., Sklar, L. S., Stock, J. D., and Roering, J. J.: Geomorphic Transport Laws for Predicting Landscape Form and Dynamics, in: Predictions in Geomorphology, American Geophysical Union, 1–30, https://doi.org/10.1029/135GM09, 2003.
Douglas, T. A., Turetsky, M. R., and Koven, C. D.: Increased rainfall stimulates permafrost thaw across a variety of Interior Alaskan boreal ecosystems, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 3, 1–7, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-020-0130-4, 2020.
Eichel, J., Draebing, D., Klingbeil, L., Wieland, M., Eling, C., Schmidtlein, S., Kuhlmann, H., and Dikau, R.: Solifluction meets vegetation: the role of biogeomorphic feedbacks for turf-banked solifluction lobe development, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 42, 1623–1635, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4102, 2017.
Eichel, J., Draebing, D., Kattenborn, T., Senn, J. A., Klingbeil, L., Wieland, M., and Heinz, E.: Unmanned aerial vehicle-based mapping of turf-banked solifluction lobe movement and its relation to material, geomorphometric, thermal and vegetation properties, Permafrost Periglac., 31, 97–109, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2036, 2020.
Elias, S. A., Short, S. K., Nelson, C. H., and Birks, H. H.: Life and times of the Bering land bridge, Nature, 382, 60–63, https://doi.org/10.1038/382060a0, 1996.
Evans, S. G., Godsey, S. E., Rushlow, C. R., and Voss, C.: Water Tracks Enhance Water Flow Above Permafrost in Upland Arctic Alaska Hillslopes, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 125, 1–18, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005256, 2020.
French, H. M.: The Periglacial Environment, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Hoboken, NJ, 515 pp., https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118684931, 2018.
Glade, R. C., Fratkin, M. M., Pouragha, M., Seiphoori, A., and Rowland, J. C.: Arctic soil patterns analogous to fluid instabilities, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 118, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101255118, 2021.
Gyssels, G., Poesen, J., Bochet, E., and Li, Y.: Impact of plant roots on the resistance of soils to erosion by water: a review, Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 29, 189–217, https://doi.org/10.1191/0309133305pp443ra, 2005.
Hales, T. C.: Modelling biome-scale root reinforcement and slope stability, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 43, 2157–2166, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4381, 2018.
Harris, C. and Lewkowicz, A. G.: An analysis of the stability of thawing slopes, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, Can. Geotech. J., 37, 449–462, https://doi.org/10.1139/t99-118, 2000.
Harris, C., Davies, M. C. R., and Coutard, J.-P.: Rates and processes of periglacial solifluction: an experimental approach, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 22, 849–868, https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1096-9837(199709)22:9<849::AID-ESP784>3.0.CO;2-U, 1997.
Harris, C., Kern-Luetschg, M., Smith, F., and Isaksen, K.: Solifluction processes in an area of seasonal ground freezing, Dovrefjell, Norway, Permafrost Periglac., 19, 31–47, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.609, 2008.
Harris, C., Kern-Luetschg, M., Christiansen, H. H., and Smith, F.: The Role of Interannual Climate Variability in Controlling Solifluction Processes, Endalen, Svalbard, Permafrost Periglac., 22, 239–253, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.727, 2011.
Harris, S. A. (Ed.): Glossary of permafrost and related ground-ice terms, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 156 pp., ISBN 0-660-125404, 1988.
Hjort, J., Streletskiy, D., Doré, G., Wu, Q., Bjella, K., and Luoto, M.: Impacts of permafrost degradation on infrastructure, Nat. Rev. Earth Environ., 3, 24–38, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00247-8, 2022.
Hu, F. S., Higuera, P. E., Duffy, P., Chipman, M. L., Rocha, A. V., Young, A. M., Kelly, R., and Dietze, M. C.: Arctic tundra fires: Natural variability and responses to climate change, Front. Ecol. Environ., 13, 369–377, https://doi.org/10.1890/150063, 2015.
Hugelius, G., Strauss, J., Zubrzycki, S., Harden, J. W., Schuur, E. A. G., Ping, C.-L., Schirrmeister, L., Grosse, G., Michaelson, G. J., Koven, C. D., O'Donnell, J. A., Elberling, B., Mishra, U., Camill, P., Yu, Z., Palmtag, J., and Kuhry, P.: Estimated stocks of circumpolar permafrost carbon with quantified uncertainty ranges and identified data gaps, Biogeosciences, 11, 6573–6593, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6573-2014, 2014.
Hunt, S., Yu, Z., and Jones, M.: Lateglacial and Holocene climate, disturbance and permafrost peatland dynamics on the Seward Peninsula, western Alaska, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 63, 42–58, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.11.019, 2013.
Hurst, M. D., Mudd, S. M., Yoo, K., Attal, M., and Walcott, R.: Influence of lithology on hillslope morphology and response to tectonic forcing in the northern Sierra Nevada of California, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 118, 832–851, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrf.20049, 2013.
Istanbulluoglu, E. and Bras, R. L.: Vegetation-modulated landscape evolution: Effects of vegetation on landscape processes, drainage density, and topography, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 110, 1–19, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JF000249, 2005.
Jafarov, E. E., Coon, E. T., Harp, D. R., Wilson, C. J., Painter, S. L., Atchley, A. L., and Romanovsky, V. E.: Modeling the role of preferential snow accumulation in through talik development and hillslope groundwater flow in a transitional permafrost landscape, Environ. Res. Lett., 13, 105006, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aadd30, 2018.
Jerolmack, D. J. and Daniels, K. E.: Viewing Earth's surface as a soft-matter landscape, Nat. Rev. Phys., 1, 716–730, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-019-0111-x, 2019.
Johnstone, S. A. and Hilley, G. E.: Lithologic control on the form of soil-mantled hillslopes, Geology, 43, 83–86, https://doi.org/10.1130/G36052.1, 2014.
Kaufman, D. S., Calkin, P. E., Whitford, W. B., Przybyl, B. J., Hopkins, D. M., Peck, B. J., and Nelson, R. E.: Surficial geologic map of the Kigluaik Mountains area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, https://doi.org/10.3133/mf2074, 1989.
Kaufman, D. S., Young, N. E., Briner, J. P., and Manley, W. F.: Alaska Palaeo-Glacier Atlas (Version 2), Developments in Quaternary Science, 15, 427–445, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53447-7.00033-7, 2011.
Kaufman, D. S., Axford, Y. L., Henderson, A. C. G., McKay, N. P., Oswald, W. W., Saenger, C., Anderson, R. S., Bailey, H. L., Clegg, B., Gajewski, K., Hu, F. S., Jones, M. C., Massa, C., Routson, C. C., Werner, A., Wooller, M. J., and Yu, Z.: Holocene climate changes in eastern Beringia (NW North America) – A systematic review of multi-proxy evidence, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 147, 312–339, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.021, 2016.
Kirkby, M. J.: A Model for Variations in Gelifluction Rates with Temperature and Topography: Implications for Global Change, Geogr. Ann. A, 77, 269–278, 1995.
Lacelle, D., Bjornson, J., and Lauriol, B.: Climatic and geomorphic factors affecting contemporary (1950–2004) activity of retrogressive thaw slumps on the Aklavik plateau, Richardson mountains, NWT, Canada, Permafrost Periglac., 21, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.666, 2010.
Landrum, L. and Holland, M. M.: Extremes become routine in an emerging new Arctic, Nat. Clim. Change, 10, 1108–1115, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0892-z, 2020.
Lathrop, E., Rowland, J., DelVecchio, J., Charsley-Groffman, L., Thaler, E., Swanson, E., Dann, J., and Sutfin, N.: DGPS measurements of solifluction and hillslopes creep at the Teller 47 field site from 2017–2019, Seward Peninsula, AK. Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA [data set], https://doi.org/10.5440/1881334, 2022.
Lavé, J. and Burbank, D. W.: Denudation processes and rates in the Transverse Ranges, southern California: Erosional response of a transitional landscape to external and anthropogenic forcing, J. Geophys. Res., 109, F01006, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JF000023, 2004.
Lewkowicz, A. and Clarke, S.: Late-summer solifluction and active layer depths, Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Canada, in: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Permafrost, Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, 641–646, 1998.
Lewkowicz, A. G.: Dynamics of Active-layer Detachment Failures, Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada Antoni, Permafrost Periglac., 18, 89–103, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.578, 2007.
Lewkowicz, A. G. and Harris, C.: Frequency and Magnitude of Active-layer Detachment Failures in Discontinuous and Continuous Permafrost, Northern Canada, Geomorphology, 130, 115–130, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.522, 2005.
Lewkowicz, A. G. and Way, R. G.: Extremes of summer climate trigger thousands of thermokarst landslides in a High Arctic environment, Nat. Commun., 10, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09314-7, 2019.
Li, A., Matsuoka, N., Niu, F., Chen, J., Ge, Z., Hu, W., Li, D., Hallet, B., van de Koppel, J., Goldenfeld, N., and Liu, Q.-X.: Ice needles weave patterns of stones in freezing landscapes, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 118, e2110670118, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2110670118, 2021.
Lozhkin, A. V., Anderson, P., Eisner, W. R., and Solomatkina, T. B.: Late glacial and holocene landscapes of central Beringia, Quaternary Res., 76, 383–392, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2011.08.003, 2011.
Lu, N. and Likos, W. J.: Suction Stress Characteristic Curve for Unsaturated Soil, J. Geotech. Geoenviron., 132, 131–142, https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)1090-0241(2006)132:2(131), 2006.
Matsuoka, N.: Solifluction rates, processes and landforms: A global review, Earth-Sci. Rev., 55, 107–134, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-8252(01)00057-5, 2001.
Mcnamara, J. P., Kane, D. L., and Hinzman, L. D.: An analysis of an arctic channel network using a digital elevation model, Geomorphology, 29, 339–353, 1999.
Millar, S.: Mass Movement Processes in the Periglacial Environment, Treatise on Geomorphology, 8, 374–391, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00217-7, 2013.
Mithan, H. T., Hales, T. C., and Cleall, P. J.: Topographic and Ground-Ice Controls on Shallow Landsliding in Thawing Arctic Permafrost, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092264, 2021.
Montgomery, D. R. and Dietrich, W. E.: A physically based model for the topographic control on shallow landsliding, Water Resour. Res., 30, 1153–1171, https://doi.org/10.1029/93WR02979, 1994.
Nyland, K. E., Shiklomanov, N. I., Streletskiy, D. A., Nelson, F. E., Klene, A. E., and Kholodov, A. L.: Long-term Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program observations in Northern Alaskan tundra, Polar Geography, 44, 167–185, https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2021.1988000, 2021.
Olefeldt, D., Goswami, S., Grosse, G., Hayes, D. J., Hugelius, G., Kuhry, P., Mcguire, A. D., Romanovsky, V. E., Sannel, A. B. K., Schuur, E. A. G., and Turetsky, M. R.: Circumpolar distribution and carbon storage of thermokarst landscapes, Nat. Commun., 7, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13043, 2016.
Parker, R. N., Hales, T. C., Mudd, S. M., Grieve, S. W. D., and Constantine, J. A.: Colluvium supply in humid regions limits the frequency of storm-triggered landslides, Sci. Rep.-UK, 6, 1–7, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep34438, 2016.
Porter, C., Morin, P., Howat, I., Noh, M.-J., Bates, B., Peterman, K., Keesey, S., Schlenk, M., Gardiner, J., Tomko, K., Willis, M., Kelleher, C., Cloutier, M., Husby, E., Foga, S., Nakamura, H., Platson, M., Wethington Jr., M., Williamson, C., Bauer, G., Enos, J., Arnold, G., Kramer, W., Becker, P., Doshi, A., D'Souza, C., Cummens, P., Laurier, F., and Bojesen, M.: ArcticDEM, Version 3, HARVARD Dataverse [data set], https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OHHUKH, 2018.
Price, L. W.: The developmental cycle of solifluction lobes, Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr., 64, 430–438, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1974.tb00991.x, 1974.
Richardson, P. W., Perron, J. T., and Schurr, N. D.: Influences of climate and life on hillslope sediment transport, Geology, 47, 423–426, https://doi.org/10.1130/G45305.1, 2019.
Roering, J. J., Perron, J. T., and Kirchner, J. W.: Functional relationships between denudation and hillslope form and relief, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 264, 245–258, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2007.09.035, 2007.
Sainsbury, C. L.: Geologic map of the Teller quadrangle, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-685, U.S. Geological Survey, https://doi.org/10.3133/i685, 972.
Schuur, E. A. G., McGuire, A. D., Schädel, C., Grosse, G., Harden, J. W., Hayes, D. J., Hugelius, G., Koven, C. D., Kuhry, P., Lawrence, D. M., Natali, S. M., Olefeldt, D., Romanovsky, V. E., Schaefer, K., Turetsky, M. R., Treat, C. C., and Vonk, J. E.: Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback, Nature, 520, 171–179, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14338, 2015.
Shelef, E., Rowland, J. C., Wilson, C. J., Hilley, G. E., Mishra, U., Altmann, G. L., Ping, C. L., Hilley, G. E., Mishra, U., Altmann, G. L., and Ping, C. L.: Large uncertainty in permafrost carbon stocks due to hillslope soil deposits, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 6134–6144, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073823, 2017.
Shur, Y., Hinkel, K. M., and Nelson, F. E.: The transient layer: Implications for geocryology and climate-change science, Permafrost Periglac., 16, 5–17, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.518, 2005.
Tarboton, D. G.: A new method for the determination of flow directions and upslope areas in grid digital elevation models, Water Resour. Res., 33, 309–319, 1997.
Thornton, P. E., Thornton, M. M., and Vose, R. S.: Daymet: Annual Tile Summary Cross-Validation Statistics for North America, Version 3, ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1348, 2016.
Torres, R., Snoeij, P., Geudtner, D., Bibby, D., Davidson, M., Attema, E., Potin, P., Rommen, B., Floury, N., Brown, M., Navas, I., Deghaye, P., Duesmann, B., Rosich, B., Miranda, N., Bruno, C., Abbate, M. L., Croci, R., Pietropaolo, A., Huchler, M., and Rostan, F.: GMES Sentinel-1 mission, Remote Sens. Environ., 120, 9–24, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2011.05.028, 2012.
Trochim, E. D., Jorgenson, M. T., Prakash, A., and Kane, D. L.: Geomorphic and biophysical factors affecting water tracks in northern Alaska, Earth and Space Science, 3, 123–141, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015EA000111, 2016.
Tucker, G. E. and Bras, R. L.: Hillslope processes, drainage density, and landscape morphology, Water Resour., 34, 2751–2764, 1998.
Turetsky, M., Abbott, B., Jones, M., Walter Anthony, K. M., Olefeldt, D., Schuur, E. A. G., Grosse, G., Kuhry, P., Hugelius, G., Koven, C. D., Lawrence, D. M., Gibson, C., Sannel, A., and McGuire, A. D.: Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw, Nat. Geosci., 13, 138–143, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0526-0, 2020.
Uhlemann, S., Dafflon, B., Peterson, J., Ulrich, C., Shirley, I., Michail, S., and Hubbard, S. S.: Geophysical Monitoring Shows that Spatial Heterogeneity in Thermohydrological Dynamics Reshapes a Transitional Permafrost System, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL091149, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091149, 2021.
University of Alaska Fairbanks: Alaska Climate Research Center, https://akclimate.org/data/data-portal/, last access: 1 July 2022.
Virtanen, P., Gommers, R., Oliphant, T. E., Haberland, M., Reddy, T., Cournapeau, D., Burovski, E., Peterson, P., Weckesser, W., Bright, J., van der Walt, S. J., Brett, M., Wilson, J., Millman, K. J., Mayorov, N., Nelson, A. R. J., Jones, E., Kern, R., Larson, E., Carey, C. J., Polat, İ., Feng, Y., Moore, E. W., VanderPlas, J., Laxalde, D., Perktold, J., Cimrman, R., Henriksen, I., Quintero, E. A., Harris, C. R., Archibald, A. M., Ribeiro, A. H., Pedregosa, F., and van Mulbregt, P.: SciPy 1.0: fundamental algorithms for scientific computing in Python, Nat. Methods, 17, 261–272, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0686-2, 2020.
Walvoord, M. A. and Kurylyk, B. L.: Hydrologic impacts of thawing permafrost – a review, Vadose Zone J., 15, vzj2016.01.0010, https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2016.01.0010, 2016.
Yoo, K., Amundson, R., Heimsath, A. M., and Dietrich, W. E.: Spatial patterns of soil organic carbon on hillslopes: Integrating geomorphic processes and the biological C cycle, Geoderma, 130, 47–65, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2005.01.008, 2006.
Zwieback, S.: Teller 47 solifluction: Sentinel-1 deformation estimates (v0.1) [Data set], Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6785214, 2022.
Zwieback, S. and Meyer, F. J.: Top-of-permafrost ground ice indicated by remotely sensed late-season subsidence, The Cryosphere, 15, 2041–2055, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2041-2021, 2021.
Short summary
In cold regions of the Earth, thawing permafrost can change the landscape, impact ecosystems, and lead to the release of greenhouse gases. In this study we used many observational tools to better understand how sediment moves on permafrost hillslopes. Some topographic change conforms to our understanding of slope stability and sediment transport as developed in temperate landscapes, but much of what we observed needs further explanation by permafrost-specific geomorphic models.
In cold regions of the Earth, thawing permafrost can change the landscape, impact ecosystems,...
