The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4279-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4279-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 14, issue 12
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
01 Dec 2020
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 01 Dec 2020

The catastrophic thermokarst lake drainage events of 2018 in northwestern Alaska: fast-forward into the future

Ingmar Nitze, Sarah W. Cooley, Claude R. Duguay, Benjamin M. Jones, and Guido Grosse

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4279-2020-supplement

Data sets

Spatial lake dynamics and lake-ice datasets of the Northern Seward and Baldwin Peninsulas in Alaska Ingmar Nitze, Sarah Cooley, Claude Duguay, Benjamin M. Jones, and Guido Grosse https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.922808

Model code and software

noaaplotter: A python package to create fancy plots with NOAA weather data Ingmar Nitze https://github.com/initze/noaaplotter

Video supplement

Lake drainage animations Ingmar Nitze, Sarah Cooley, Claude Duguay, Benjamin M. Jones, and Guido Grosse https://github.com/initze/NW_Alaska_Drainage_Paper/tree/final/animations/lake_animations_drainage_1999-2014

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Short summary
In summer 2018, northwestern Alaska was affected by widespread lake drainage which strongly exceeded previous observations. We analyzed the spatial and temporal patterns with remote sensing observations, weather data and lake-ice simulations. The preceding fall and winter season was the second warmest and wettest on record, causing the destabilization of permafrost and elevated water levels which likely led to widespread and rapid lake drainage during or right after ice breakup.
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