Articles | Volume 15, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3059-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3059-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
06 Jul 2021
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 06 Jul 2021
| 06 Jul 2021
Thaw-driven mass wasting couples slopes with downstream systems, and effects propagate through Arctic drainage networks
Steven V. Kokelj
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Northwest Territories Geological Survey, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2L9, Canada
Justin Kokoszka
Northwest Territories Geological Survey, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2L9, Canada
Wilfrid Laurier University, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2P8, Canada
Jurjen van der Sluijs
Northwest Territories Centre for Geomatics, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2L9, Canada
Ashley C. A. Rudy
Northwest Territories Geological Survey, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2L9, Canada
Jon Tunnicliffe
School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, NZ
Sarah Shakil
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada
Suzanne E. Tank
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada
Scott Zolkos
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada
Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, MA 02540, USA
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Permafrost beneath tundra near Lac de Gras (Northwest Territories, Canada) contains more ice and less organic carbon than shown in global compilations. Excess-ice content of 20–60 %, likely remnant Laurentide basal ice, is found in upland till. This study is based on 24 boreholes up to 10 m deep. Findings highlight geology and glacial legacy as determinants of a mosaic of permafrost characteristics with potential for thaw subsidence up to several metres in some locations.
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High-latitude warming thaws permafrost, exposing minerals to weathering and fluvial transport. We studied the effects of abrupt thaw and associated weathering on carbon cycling in western Canada. Permafrost collapse affected < 1 % of the landscape yet enabled carbonate weathering associated with CO2 degassing in headwaters and increased bicarbonate export across watershed scales. Weathering may become a driver of carbon cycling in ice- and mineral-rich permafrost terrain across the Arctic.
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Short summary
Climate-driven landslides are transforming glacially conditioned permafrost terrain, coupling slopes with aquatic systems, and triggering a cascade of downstream effects. Nonlinear intensification of thawing slopes is primarily affecting headwater systems where slope sediment yields overwhelm stream transport capacity. The propagation of effects across watershed scales indicates that western Arctic Canada will be an interconnected hotspot of thaw-driven change through the coming millennia.
Climate-driven landslides are transforming glacially conditioned permafrost terrain, coupling...
