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EOS, TRANSACTIONS AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION, VOL. 90, NO. 4, doi:10.1029/2009EO040001, 2009

Effects of Hillslope Thermokarst in Northern Alaska

Michael N. Gooseff

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA


Andrew Balser

Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB), University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA


William B. Bowden

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, USA


Jeremy B. Jones

Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB), University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA


Abstract

Permafrost thawing is increasing in the Arctic and sub-Arctic [Osterkamp and Romanovsky, 1996; Osterkamp, 2007] in response to climate warming [Hassol, 2004]. One consequence of thawing permafrost is the development of thermokarst (physical depression of ground surface) because of reduced support of overlying soil [Jorgenson et al., 2006]. Thermokarst lakes, for example, result from changes to surface energy balance, which drive permafrost thaw locally, such that a topographic depression develops and captures water, forming a lake or pond. Climate warming of the past several decades is expected to increase the occurrence of thermokarst. For example, Agafonov et al. [2004] have noted that the rate of expansion of a single thermokarst depression in western Siberia has increased in the latter half of the twentieth century, coincident with increasing air temperature and precipitation during the thaw season.

Published 4 January 2009.

Keywords: thermokarst, climate warming, Alaska.

Index Terms: 0708 Cryosphere: Thermokarst; 1225 Geodesy and Gravity: Global change from geodesy (1222, 1622, 1630, 1641, 1645, 4556); 1625 Global Change: Geomorphology and weathering (0790, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1886).

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Citation: Gooseff, M. N., A. Balser, W. B. Bowden, and J. B. Jones (2009), Effects of Hillslope Thermokarst in Northern Alaska, Eos Trans. AGU, 90(4), doi:10.1029/2009EO040001.