Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1-2017
Research article
 | 
02 Jan 2017
Research article |  | 02 Jan 2017

Strong degradation of palsas and peat plateaus in northern Norway during the last 60 years

Amund F. Borge, Sebastian Westermann, Ingvild Solheim, and Bernd Etzelmüller

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Short summary
Palsas and peat plateaus are permafrost landforms in subarctic mires which constitute sensitive ecosystems with strong significance for vegetation, wildlife, hydrology and carbon cycle. We have systematically mapped the occurrence of palsas and peat plateaus in northern Norway by interpretation of aerial images from the 1950s until today. The results show that about half of the area of palsas and peat plateaus has disappeared due to lateral erosion and melting of ground ice in the last 50 years.