Articles | Volume 15, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4005-2021
© 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-15-4005-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
New insights into the drainage of inundated ice-wedge polygons using fundamental hydrologic principles
Dylan R. Harp
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
current address: Science and Analytics Team, The Freshwater Trust, 700 SW Taylor Street, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97205, USA
Vitaly Zlotnik
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0340, USA
Charles J. Abolt
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Bob Busey
International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Sofia T. Avendaño
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Brent D. Newman
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Adam L. Atchley
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Elchin Jafarov
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Cathy J. Wilson
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Katrina E. Bennett
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA
Related authors
Elchin E. Jafarov, Daniil Svyatsky, Brent Newman, Dylan Harp, David Moulton, and Cathy Wilson
The Cryosphere, 16, 851–862, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-851-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-851-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Recent research indicates the importance of lateral transport of dissolved carbon in the polygonal tundra, suggesting that the freeze-up period could further promote lateral carbon transport. We conducted subsurface tracer simulations on high-, flat-, and low-centered polygons to test the importance of the freeze–thaw cycle and freeze-up time for tracer mobility. Our findings illustrate the impact of hydraulic and thermal gradients on tracer mobility, as well as of the freeze-up time.
Elchin E. Jafarov, Hélène Genet, Velimir V. Vesselinov, Valeria Briones, Aiza Kabeer, Andrew L. Mullen, Benjamin Maglio, Tobey Carman, Ruth Rutter, Joy Clein, Chu-Chun Chang, Dogukan Teber, Trevor Smith, Joshua M. Rady, Christina Schädel, Jennifer D. Watts, Brendan M. Rogers, and Susan M. Natali
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 3857–3875, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3857-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3857-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study improves how we tune ecosystem models to reflect carbon and nitrogen storage in Arctic soils. By comparing model outputs with data from a black spruce forest in Alaska, we developed a clearer, more efficient method of matching observations. This is a key step towards understanding how Arctic ecosystems may respond to warming and release carbon, helping make future climate predictions more reliable.
Xiang Huang, Yu Zhang, Bo Gao, Charles J. Abolt, Ryan L. Crumley, Cansu Demir, Richard P. Fiorella, Bob Busey, Bob Bolton, Scott L. Painter, and Katrina E. Bennett
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1753, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1753, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Predicting hydrological runoff in Arctic permafrost regions is difficult due to limited observations and complex terrain. We used a detailed physics-based model to improve runoff estimates in a Earth system land model. Our method improved runoff accuracy and worked well across two different Arctic regions. This helps make climate models more reliable for understanding water flow in permafrost areas under a changing climate.
Valeria Briones, Hélène Genet, Elchin E. Jafarov, Brendan M. Rogers, Jennifer D. Watts, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Annett Bartsch, Benjamin C. Maglio, Joshua Rady, and Susan M. Natali
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-226, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-226, 2025
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic warming is causing permafrost to thaw, affecting ecosystems and climate. Since land cover, especially vegetation, shapes how permafrost responds, accurate maps are crucial. Using machine learning, we combined existing global and regional datasets to create a hybrid detailed 1-km map of Arctic-Boreal land cover, improving the representation of forests, shrubs, and wetlands across the circumpolar.
Claire L. Bachand, Chen Wang, Baptiste Dafflon, Lauren N. Thomas, Ian Shirley, Sarah Maebius, Colleen M. Iversen, and Katrina E. Bennett
The Cryosphere, 19, 393–400, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-393-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-393-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Temporally continuous snow depth estimates are important for understanding changing snow patterns and impacts on frozen ground in the Arctic. In this work, we developed an approach to predict snow depth from variability in snow–ground interface temperature using small temperature sensors that are cheap and easy to deploy. This new technique enables spatially distributed and temporally continuous snowpack monitoring that has not previously been possible.
Kavya Sivaraj, Kurt Solander, Charles Abolt, and Elizabeth Hunke
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3315, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3315, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Melt ponds are seasonal water bodies whose presence affect the rate of Arctic sea ice loss by increasing the absorption of solar radiation. Despite their importance, large-scale observational datasets of Melt Pond Fraction (MPF) are inadequate due to low-resolution sensors and spectral misclassifications caused by different ice types. Our novel ML-based workflow overcomes these limitations by leveraging morphological operators, resulting in an improved Sentinel-2-based mean MPF of 11% from 20%.
Tao Liu, Luke A. McGuire, Ann M. Youberg, Charles J. Abolt, and Adam L. Atchley
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-151, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS
Short summary
Short summary
After a fire, soil infiltration decreases, increasing flash flood risks, worsened by intense rainfall from climate change. Using data from a burned watershed in Arizona and a hydrological model, we examined postfire soil changes under medium and high emissions scenarios. Results showed soil infiltration increased sixfold from the first to third postfire year. Both scenarios suggest that rainfall intensification will extend high flood risks after fires by late century.
Charles E. Miller, Peter C. Griffith, Elizabeth Hoy, Naiara S. Pinto, Yunling Lou, Scott Hensley, Bruce D. Chapman, Jennifer Baltzer, Kazem Bakian-Dogaheh, W. Robert Bolton, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Richard H. Chen, Byung-Hun Choe, Leah K. Clayton, Thomas A. Douglas, Nancy French, Jean E. Holloway, Gang Hong, Lingcao Huang, Go Iwahana, Liza Jenkins, John S. Kimball, Tatiana Loboda, Michelle Mack, Philip Marsh, Roger J. Michaelides, Mahta Moghaddam, Andrew Parsekian, Kevin Schaefer, Paul R. Siqueira, Debjani Singh, Alireza Tabatabaeenejad, Merritt Turetsky, Ridha Touzi, Elizabeth Wig, Cathy J. Wilson, Paul Wilson, Stan D. Wullschleger, Yonghong Yi, Howard A. Zebker, Yu Zhang, Yuhuan Zhao, and Scott J. Goetz
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2605–2624, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2605-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2605-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) conducted airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) surveys of over 120 000 km2 in Alaska and northwestern Canada during 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. This paper summarizes those results and provides links to details on ~ 80 individual flight lines. This paper is presented as a guide to enable interested readers to fully explore the ABoVE L- and P-band SAR data.
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.
Ian Shirley, Sebastian Uhlemann, John Peterson, Katrina Bennett, Susan S. Hubbard, and Baptiste Dafflon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-968, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-968, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Snow depth has a strong impact on soil temperatures and carbon cycling in the arctic. Because of this, we want to understand why snow is deeper in some places than others. Using cameras mounted on a drone, we mapped snow depth, vegetation height, and elevation across a watershed in Alaska. In this paper, we develop novel techniques using image processing and machine learning to characterize the influence of topography and shrubs on snow depth in the watershed.
Xiang Huang, Charles J. Abolt, and Katrina E. Bennett
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-8, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2023-8, 2023
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
Near-surface humidity is a sensitive parameter for predicting snow depth. Greater values of the relative humidity are obtained if the saturation vapor pressure was calculated with over-ice correction compared to without during the winter. During the summer thawing period, the choice of whether or not to employ an over-ice correction corresponds to significant variability in simulated thaw depths.
Jason A. Clark, Elchin E. Jafarov, Ken D. Tape, Benjamin M. Jones, and Victor Stepanenko
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7421–7448, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7421-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7421-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Lakes in the Arctic are important reservoirs of heat. Under climate warming scenarios, we expect Arctic lakes to warm the surrounding frozen ground. We simulate water temperatures in three Arctic lakes in northern Alaska over several years. Our results show that snow depth and lake ice strongly affect water temperatures during the frozen season and that more heat storage by lakes would enhance thawing of frozen ground.
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.
Rachael E. McCaully, Carli A. Arendt, Brent D. Newman, Verity G. Salmon, Jeffrey M. Heikoop, Cathy J. Wilson, Sanna Sevanto, Nathan A. Wales, George B. Perkins, Oana C. Marina, and Stan D. Wullschleger
The Cryosphere, 16, 1889–1901, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1889-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1889-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Degrading permafrost and shrub expansion are critically important to tundra biogeochemistry. We observed significant variability in soil pore water NO3-N in an alder-dominated permafrost hillslope in Alaska. Proximity to alder shrubs and the presence or absence of topographic gradients and precipitation events strongly influence NO3-N availability and mobility. The highly dynamic nature of labile N on small spatiotemporal scales has implications for nutrient responses to a warming Arctic.
Elchin E. Jafarov, Daniil Svyatsky, Brent Newman, Dylan Harp, David Moulton, and Cathy Wilson
The Cryosphere, 16, 851–862, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-851-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-851-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Recent research indicates the importance of lateral transport of dissolved carbon in the polygonal tundra, suggesting that the freeze-up period could further promote lateral carbon transport. We conducted subsurface tracer simulations on high-, flat-, and low-centered polygons to test the importance of the freeze–thaw cycle and freeze-up time for tracer mobility. Our findings illustrate the impact of hydraulic and thermal gradients on tracer mobility, as well as of the freeze-up time.
Baptiste Dafflon, Stijn Wielandt, John Lamb, Patrick McClure, Ian Shirley, Sebastian Uhlemann, Chen Wang, Sylvain Fiolleau, Carlotta Brunetti, Franklin H. Akins, John Fitzpatrick, Samuel Pullman, Robert Busey, Craig Ulrich, John Peterson, and Susan S. Hubbard
The Cryosphere, 16, 719–736, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-719-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-719-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the development and validation of a novel acquisition system for measuring finely resolved depth profiles of soil and snow temperature at multiple locations. Results indicate that the system reliably captures the dynamics in snow thickness, as well as soil freezing and thawing depth, enabling advances in understanding the intensity and timing in surface processes and their impact on subsurface thermohydrological regimes.
Karis J. McFarlane, Heather M. Throckmorton, Jeffrey M. Heikoop, Brent D. Newman, Alexandra L. Hedgpeth, Marisa N. Repasch, Thomas P. Guilderson, and Cathy J. Wilson
Biogeosciences, 19, 1211–1223, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1211-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1211-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Planetary warming is increasing seasonal thaw of permafrost, making this extensive old carbon stock vulnerable. In northern Alaska, we found more and older dissolved organic carbon in small drainages later in summer as more permafrost was exposed by deepening thaw. Younger and older carbon did not differ in chemical indicators related to biological lability suggesting this carbon can cycle through aquatic systems and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions as warming increases permafrost thaw.
Debjani Sihi, Xiaofeng Xu, Mónica Salazar Ortiz, Christine S. O'Connell, Whendee L. Silver, Carla López-Lloreda, Julia M. Brenner, Ryan K. Quinn, Jana R. Phillips, Brent D. Newman, and Melanie A. Mayes
Biogeosciences, 18, 1769–1786, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1769-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1769-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Humid tropical soils are important sources and sinks of methane. We used model simulation to understand how different kinds of microbes and observed soil moisture and oxygen dynamics contribute to production and consumption of methane along a wet tropical hillslope during normal and drought conditions. Drought alters the diffusion of oxygen and microbial substrates into and out of soil microsites, resulting in enhanced methane release from the entire hillslope during drought recovery.
A. D. Collins, C. G. Andresen, L. M. Charsley-Groffman, T. Cochran, J. Dann, E. Lathrop, G. J. Riemersma, E. M. Swanson, A. Tapadinhas, and C. J. Wilson
Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLIV-M-2-2020, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIV-M-2-2020-1-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIV-M-2-2020-1-2020, 2020
Cited articles
Abnizova, A., Siemens, J., Langer, M., and Boike, J.: Small ponds with major
impact: The relevance of ponds and lakes in permafrost landscapes to carbon
dioxide emissions, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 26, 1–9, 2012. a
Abolt, C. J., Young, M. H., Atchley, A. L., and Harp, D. R.: Microtopographic control on the ground thermal regime in ice wedge polygons, The Cryosphere, 12, 1957–1968, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1957-2018, 2018. a
Abolt, C. J., Young, M. H., Atchley, A. L., and Wilson, C. J.: Brief communication: Rapid machine-learning-based extraction and measurement of ice wedge polygons in high-resolution digital elevation models, The Cryosphere, 13, 237–245, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-237-2019, 2019. a
Abolt, C. J., Young, M. H., Atchley, A. L., Harp, D. R., and Coon, E. T.:
Feedbacks between surface deformation and permafrost degradation in ice wedge
polygons, Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 125, e2019JF005349, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005349, 2020. a, b
Atchley, A. L., Painter, S. L., Harp, D. R., Coon, E. T., Wilson, C. J., Liljedahl, A. K., and Romanovsky, V. E.: Using field observations to inform thermal hydrology models of permafrost dynamics with ATS (v0.83), Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2701–2722, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2701-2015, 2015. a, b
Billings, W. and Peterson, K.: Vegetational change and ice-wedge polygons
through the thaw-lake cycle in Arctic Alaska, Arct. Alp. Res., 12,
413–432, 1980. a
Brown, J., Ferrians Jr, O., Heginbottom, J., and Melnikov, E.: Circum-Arctic
map of permafrost and ground-ice conditions, US Geological Survey Reston, VA,
1997. a
Brown, V. A., McDonnell, J. J., Burns, D. A., and Kendall, C.: The role of
event water, a rapid shallow flow component, and catchment size in summer
stormflow, J. Hydrol., 217, 171–190, 1999. a
Conway, T. and Steele, L.: Carbon dioxide and methane in the Arctic atmosphere,
J. Atmos. Chem., 9, 81–99, 1989. a
Cory, R. M., Ward, C. P., Crump, B. C., and Kling, G. W.: Sunlight controls
water column processing of carbon in arctic fresh waters, Science, 345,
925–928, 2014. a
Cresto Aleina, F., Brovkin, V., Muster, S., Boike, J., Kutzbach, L., Sachs, T., and Zuyev, S.: A stochastic model for the polygonal tundra based on Poisson–Voronoi diagrams, Earth Syst. Dynam., 4, 187–198, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-4-187-2013, 2013. a, b
Harp, D. R., Atchley, A. L., Painter, S. L., Coon, E. T., Wilson, C. J., Romanovsky, V. E., and Rowland, J. C.: Effect of soil property uncertainties on permafrost thaw projections: a calibration-constrained analysis, The Cryosphere, 10, 341–358, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-341-2016, 2016. a, b
Heikoop, J. M., Throckmorton, H. M., Newman, B. D., Perkins, G. B., Iversen, C. M., Roy Chowdhury, T., Romanovsky, V., Graham, D. E., Norby, R. J., Wilson, C. J., and Wullschleger, S. D.: Isotopic identification of soil and permafrost nitrate
sources in an Arctic tundra ecosystem, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 120, 1000–1017, 2015. a, b
Hinzman, L., Busey, B., Cable, W., and Romanovsky, V.: Surface meteorology,
Barrow, Alaska, Area A, B, C and D, ongoing from 2012, Next Generation
Ecosystem Experiments Arctic Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, Data accessed on
28 December 2020, https://doi.org/10.5440/1164893, 2014. a
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. a
Jafarov, E., Parsekian, A., Schaefer, K., Liu, L., Chen, A., Panda, S., and
Zhang, T.: Estimating active layer thickness and volumetric water content
from ground penetrating radar measurements in Barrow, Alaska, Geosci. Data
J., 4, 72–79, 2017. a
Jan, A., Coon, E. T., Graham, J. D., and Painter, S. L.: A subgrid approach for
modeling microtopography effects on overland flow, Water Resour. Res.,
54, 6153–6167, 2018a. a
Jan, A., Coon, E. T., Painter, S. L., Garimella, R., and Moulton, J. D.: An
intermediate-scale model for thermal hydrology in low-relief
permafrost-affected landscapes, Computat. Geosci., 22, 163–177,
2018b. a
Jan, A., Coon, E. T., and Painter, S. L.: Evaluating integrated
surface/subsurface permafrost thermal hydrology models in ATS (v0.88)
against observations from a polygonal tundra site, Geosci. Model
Dev., 13, 2259–2276, 2020. a
Jorgenson, M. T., Shur, Y. L., and Pullman, E. R.: Abrupt increase in
permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, 1–4,
2006. a
Jorgenson, M. T., Kanevskiy, M., Shur, Y., Moskalenko, N., Brown, D., Wickland,
K., Striegl, R., and Koch, J.: Role of ground ice dynamics and ecological
feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization, J.
Geophys. Res.-Earth, 120, 2280–2297, 2015. a
King, T. V., Neilson, B. T., Overbeck, L. D., and Kane, D. L.: A distributed
analysis of lateral inflows in an Alaskan Arctic watershed underlain by
continuous permafrost, Hydrol. Process., 34, 633–648, 2020. a
Lachenbruch, A. H.: Mechanics of thermal contraction cracks and ice-wedge
polygons in permafrost, Vol. 70, Geol. Soc. Am., 70, 1–63, 1962. a
Lara, M. J., McGuire, A. D., Euskirchen, E. S., Tweedie, C. E., Hinkel, K. M.,
Skurikhin, A. N., Romanovsky, V. E., Grosse, G., Bolton, W. R., and Genet,
H.: Polygonal tundra geomorphological change in response to warming alters
future CO2 and CH4 flux on the Barrow Peninsula, Glob. Change Biol., 21,
1634–1651, 2015. a
Larouche, J. R., Abbott, B. W., Bowden, W. B., and Jones, J. B.: The role of watershed characteristics, permafrost thaw, and wildfire on dissolved organic carbon biodegradability and water chemistry in Arctic headwater streams, Biogeosciences, 12, 4221–4233, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4221-2015, 2015. a
Laurion, I. and Mladenov, N.: Dissolved organic matter photolysis in Canadian
arctic thaw ponds, Environ. Res. Lett., 8, 035026, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035026, 2013. a, b
Lewkowicz, A. G.: Ice-wedge rejuvenation, fosheim peninsula, ellesmere Island,
Canada, Permafrost Periglac., 5, 251–268, 1994. a
Liljedahl, A. K. and Wilson, C. J.: Ground Water Levels for NGEE Areas A, B, C
and D, Barrow, Alaska, 2012–2014, Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments
Arctic Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of
Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, Data accessed on 8 February 2020,
https://doi.org/10.5440/1183767, 2016. a, b, c, d
Mackay, J. R.: The world of underground ice, Ann. Assoc.
Am. Geogr., 62, 1–22, 1972. a
Mackay, J. R.: Active layer slope movement in a continuous permafrost
environment, Garry Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, Can. J.
Earth Sci., 18, 1666–1680, 1981. a
Mackay, J. R.: Some observations on the growth and deformation of epigenetic,
syngenetic and anti-syngenetic ice wedges, Permafrost Periglac., 1, 15–29, 1990. a
Matsuoka, N. and Moriwaki, K.: Frost heave and creep in the Sør Rondane
Mountains, Antarct. Arct. Alp. Res., 24, 271–280, 1992. a
McDonnell, J., Owens, I. F., and Stewart, M.: A case study of shallow flow
paths in a steep zero-order basin 1, J. Am. Water
Resour. Assoc., 27, 679–685, 1991. a
Minke, M., Donner, N., Karpov, N. S., de Klerk, P., and Joosten, H.:
Distribution, diversity, development and dynamics of polygon mires: examples
from Northeast Yakutia (Siberia), Peatlands Internation, 36–40, 2007. a
Moore, T. and Dalva, M.: Methane and carbon dioxide exchange potentials of peat
soils in aerobic and anaerobic laboratory incubations, Soil Biol.
Biochem., 29, 1157–1164, 1997. a
Newman, B. D., Throckmorton, H. M., Graham, D. E., Gu, B., Hubbard, S. S.,
Liang, L., Wu, Y., Heikoop, J. M., Herndon, E. M., Phelps, T. J., Wilson,
C. J., and Wullschleger, S. D.: Microtopographic and depth controls on active
layer chemistry in Arctic polygonal ground, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42,
1808–1817, 2015. a, b, c, d, e
Nitzbon, J., Langer, M., Westermann, S., Martin, L., Aas, K. S., and Boike, J.: Pathways of ice-wedge degradation in polygonal tundra under different hydrological conditions, The Cryosphere, 13, 1089–1123, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1089-2019, 2019. a, b, c, d
Norby, R. J., Sloan, V. L., Iversen, C. M., and Childs, J.: Controls on
fine-scale spatial and temporal variability of plant-available inorganic
nitrogen in a polygonal tundra landscape, Ecosystems, 22, 528–543, 2019. a
O'Shea, S. J., Allen, G., Gallagher, M. W., Bower, K., Illingworth, S. M., Muller, J. B. A., Jones, B. T., Percival, C. J., Bauguitte, S. J.-B., Cain, M., Warwick, N., Quiquet, A., Skiba, U., Drewer, J., Dinsmore, K., Nisbet, E. G., Lowry, D., Fisher, R. E., France, J. L., Aurela, M., Lohila, A., Hayman, G., George, C., Clark, D. B., Manning, A. J., Friend, A. D., and Pyle, J.: Methane and carbon dioxide fluxes and their regional scalability for the European Arctic wetlands during the MAMM project in summer 2012, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 13159–13174, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13159-2014, 2014. a
Painter, S. L.: Three-phase numerical model of water migration in partially
frozen geological media: model formulation, validation, and applications,
Comput. Geosci., 15, 69–85, 2011. a
Pollock, M. D., O'Donnell, G., Quinn, P., Dutton, M., Black, A., Wilkinson, M. E., Colli, M., Stagnaro, M., Lanza, L. G., Lewis, E., and Kilsby, C. G.: Quantifying and
mitigating wind-induced undercatch in rainfall measurements, Water Resour.
Res., 54, 3863–3875, 2018. a
Popper, K.: The logic of scientific discovery, Routledge, 2005. a
Quinton, W. and Marsh, P.: A conceptual framework for runoff generation in a
permafrost environment, Hydrol. Process., 13, 2563–2581, 1999. a
Raymond, P. A., Hartmann, J., Lauerwald, R., Sobek, S., McDonald, C., Hoover, M., Butman, D., Striegl, R., Mayorga, E., Humborg, C., and Kortelainen, P.: Global carbon
dioxide emissions from inland waters, Nature, 503, 355–359, 2013. a
Raynolds, M. K., Walker, D. A., Ambrosius, K. J., Brown, J., Everett, K. R.,
Kanevskiy, M., Kofinas, G. P., Romanovsky, V. E., Shur, Y., and Webber,
P. J.: Cumulative geoecological effects of 62 years of infrastructure and
climate change in ice-rich permafrost landscapes, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield,
Alaska, Glob. Change Biol., 20, 1211–1224, 2014. a
Rodell, M., Houser, P. R., Jambor, U. E. A., Gottschalck, J., Mitchell, K., Meng, C. J., Arsenault, K., Cosgrove, B., Radakovich, J., Bosilovich, M., and Entin, J. K.: The
global land data assimilation system, Bull. Am. Meteorol.
Soc., 85, 381–394, 2004. a
Romanovsky, V., Cable, W., and Dolgikh, K.: Subsurface temperature, moisture,
thermal conductivity and heat flux, Barrow, Area A, B, C, D, Next Generation
Ecosystem Experiments Arctic Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, Data accessed on
29 December 2020, https://doi.org/10.5440/1126515, 2017. a, b
Schuh, C., Frampton, A., and Christiansen, H. H.: Soil moisture redistribution and its effect on inter-annual active layer temperature and thickness variations in a dry loess terrace in Adventdalen, Svalbard, The Cryosphere, 11, 635–651, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-635-2017, 2017. a
Schuur, E. A., Bockheim, J., Canadell, J. G., Euskirchen, E., Field, C. B., Goryachkin, S. V., Hagemann, S., Kuhry, P., Lafleur, P. M., Lee, H., and Mazhitova, G.:
Vulnerability of permafrost carbon to climate change: Implications for the
global carbon cycle, BioScience, 58, 701–714, 2008. a
Shiklomanov, N. I., Streletskiy, D. A., Nelson, F. E., Hollister, R. D.,
Romanovsky, V. E., Tweedie, C. E., Bockheim, J. G., and Brown, J.: Decadal
variations of active-layer thickness in moisture-controlled landscapes,
Barrow, Alaska, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 115, 1–14, 2010. a
Tarnocai, C., Canadell, J., Schuur, E. A., Kuhry, P., Mazhitova, G., and Zimov,
S.: Soil organic carbon pools in the northern circumpolar permafrost region,
Global Biogeochem. Cy., 23, 1–11, 2009. a
Throckmorton, H. M., Heikoop, J. M., Newman, B. D., Altmann, G. L., Conrad, M. S., Muss, J. D., Perkins, G. B., Smith, L. J., Torn, M. S., Wullschleger, S. D., and Wilson, C. J.: Pathways and transformations of dissolved methane and
dissolved inorganic carbon in Arctic tundra watersheds: Evidence from
analysis of stable isotopes, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 29, 1893–1910,
2015. a, b
Transtrum, M. K., Machta, B. B., and Sethna, J. P.: Geometry of nonlinear least
squares with applications to sloppy models and optimization, Phys. Rev.
E, 83, 036701, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.036701, 2011. a
Vaughn, L. J., Conrad, M. E., Bill, M., and Torn, M. S.: Isotopic insights into
methane production, oxidation, and emissions in Arctic polygon tundra, Glob.
Change Biol., 22, 3487–3502, 2016. a
Wainwright, H. M., Dafflon, B., Smith, L. J., Hahn, M. S., Curtis, J. B., Wu,
Y., Ulrich, C., Peterson, J. E., Torn, M. S., and Hubbard, S. S.: Identifying
multiscale zonation and assessing the relative importance of polygon
geomorphology on carbon fluxes in an Arctic tundra ecosystem, J.
Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 120, 788–808, 2015. a, b
Wales, N. A., Gomez-Velez, J. D., Newman, B. D., Wilson, C. J., Dafflon, B., Kneafsey, T. J., Soom, F., and Wullschleger, S. D.: Understanding the relative importance of vertical and horizontal flow in ice-wedge polygons, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1109–1129, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1109-2020, 2020. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l
Wolter, J., Lantuit, H., Fritz, M., Macias-Fauria, M., Myers-Smith, I., and
Herzschuh, U.: Vegetation composition and shrub extent on the Yukon coast,
Canada, are strongly linked to ice-wedge polygon degradation, Polar Res.,
35, 27489, https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v35.27489, 2016. a
Wright, N., Hayashi, M., and Quinton, W. L.: Spatial and temporal variations in
active layer thawing and their implication on runoff generation in
peat-covered permafrost terrain, Water Resour. Res., 45, 1–13, 2009. a
Zhu, X., Zhuang, Q., Gao, X., Sokolov, A., and Schlosser, C. A.: Pan-Arctic
land–atmospheric fluxes of methane and carbon dioxide in response to climate
change over the 21st century, Environ. Res. Lett., 8, 045003, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/045003,
2013.
a
Short summary
Polygon-shaped landforms present in relatively flat Arctic tundra result in complex landscape-scale water drainage. The drainage pathways and the time to transition from inundated conditions to drained have important implications for heat and carbon transport. Using fundamental hydrologic principles, we investigate the drainage pathways and timing of individual polygons, providing insights into the effects of polygon geometry and preferential flow direction on drainage pathways and timing.
Polygon-shaped landforms present in relatively flat Arctic tundra result in complex...