Articles | Volume 16, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2819-2022
© Author(s) 2022. 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-16-2819-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
15 Jul 2022
Research article |
| 15 Jul 2022
| 15 Jul 2022
Accelerated mobilization of organic carbon from retrogressive thaw slumps on the northern Taymyr Peninsula
Philipp Bernhard
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Simon Zwieback
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Irena Hajnsek
Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Microwaves and Radar Institute, German Aerospace Center (DLR) e.V., 82234 Wessling, Germany
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We present an investigation of retrogressive thaw slumps in 10 study sites across the Arctic. These slumps have major impacts on hydrology and ecosystems and can also reinforce climate change by the mobilization of carbon. Using time series of digital elevation models, we found that thaw slump change rates follow a specific type of distribution that is known from landslides in more temperate landscapes and that the 2D area change is strongly related to the 3D volumetric change.
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Thawing of ice-rich permafrost leads to subsidence and slumping, which can compromise Arctic infrastructure. However, we lack fine-scale maps of permafrost ground ice, chiefly because it is usually invisible at the surface. We show that subsidence at the end of summer serves as a
fingerprintwith which near-surface permafrost ground ice can be identified. As this can be done with satellite data, this method may help improve ground ice maps and thus sustainably steward the Arctic.
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Short summary
With climate change, Arctic hillslopes above ice-rich permafrost are vulnerable to enhanced carbon mobilization. In this work elevation change estimates generated from satellite observations reveal a substantial acceleration of carbon mobilization on the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia between 2010 and 2021. The strong increase occurring in 2020 coincided with a severe Siberian heatwave and highlights that carbon mobilization can respond sharply and non-linearly to increasing temperatures.
With climate change, Arctic hillslopes above ice-rich permafrost are vulnerable to enhanced...
