Articles | Volume 17, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5477-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5477-2023
Research article
 | 
22 Dec 2023
Research article |  | 22 Dec 2023

Rapid warming and degradation of mountain permafrost in Norway and Iceland

Bernd Etzelmüller, Ketil Isaksen, Justyna Czekirda, Sebastian Westermann, Christin Hilbich, and Christian Hauck

Related authors

Development of multiple taliks near settlements on Svalbard – a new source of drinking water for the High Arctic?
Anatoly O. Sinitsyn, Sara Bazin, Rasmus Benestad, Bernd Etzelmüller, Ketil Isaksen, Hanne Kvitsand, Julia Lutz, Andrea L. Popp, Lena Rubensdotter, and Sebastian Westermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2950,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2950, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Post-Little Ice Age rock wall permafrost evolution in Norway
Justyna Czekirda, Bernd Etzelmüller, Sebastian Westermann, Ketil Isaksen, and Florence Magnin
The Cryosphere, 17, 2725–2754, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2725-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2725-2023, 2023
Short summary
The CryoGrid community model (version 1.0) – a multi-physics toolbox for climate-driven simulations in the terrestrial cryosphere
Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, Johanna Scheer, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Nitin Chaudhary, Bernd Etzelmüller, Simon Filhol, Andreas Kääb, Cas Renette, Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Robin B. Zweigel, Léo Martin, Sarah Morard, Matan Ben-Asher, Michael Angelopoulos, Julia Boike, Brian Groenke, Frederieke Miesner, Jan Nitzbon, Paul Overduin, Simone M. Stuenzi, and Moritz Langer
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 2607–2647, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, 2023
Short summary
Simulating the effect of subsurface drainage on the thermal regime and ground ice in blocky terrain in Norway
Cas Renette, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Robin Benjamin Zweigel, Bernd Etzelmüller, Karianne Staalesen Lilleøren, Ketil Isaksen, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 33–50, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-33-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-33-2023, 2023
Short summary
Transitional rock glaciers at sea level in northern Norway
Karianne S. Lilleøren, Bernd Etzelmüller, Line Rouyet, Trond Eiken, Gaute Slinde, and Christin Hilbich
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 975–996, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-975-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-975-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Discipline: Frozen ground | Subject: Mountain Processes
Quantifying frost-weathering-induced damage in alpine rocks
Till Mayer, Maxim Deprez, Laurenz Schröer, Veerle Cnudde, and Daniel Draebing
The Cryosphere, 18, 2847–2864, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2847-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2847-2024, 2024
Short summary
Mountain permafrost in the Central Pyrenees: insights from the Devaux ice cave
Miguel Bartolomé, Gérard Cazenave, Marc Luetscher, Christoph Spötl, Fernando Gázquez, Ánchel Belmonte, Alexandra V. Turchyn, Juan Ignacio López-Moreno, and Ana Moreno
The Cryosphere, 17, 477–497, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-477-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-477-2023, 2023
Short summary
Glacier–permafrost relations in a high-mountain environment: 5 decades of kinematic monitoring at the Gruben site, Swiss Alps
Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Nina Brunner, Reynald Delaloye, Wilfried Haeberli, Andreas Kääb, and Patrick Thee
The Cryosphere, 16, 2083–2101, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2083-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2083-2022, 2022
Short summary
Brief communication: The influence of mica-rich rocks on the shear strength of ice-filled discontinuities
Philipp Mamot, Samuel Weber, Maximilian Lanz, and Michael Krautblatter
The Cryosphere, 14, 1849–1855, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1849-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1849-2020, 2020
Short summary
Resolving the influence of temperature forcing through heat conduction on rock glacier dynamics: a numerical modelling approach
Alessandro Cicoira, Jan Beutel, Jérome Faillettaz, Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, and Andreas Vieli
The Cryosphere, 13, 927–942, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-927-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-927-2019, 2019
Short summary

Cited articles

Andersen, J. L., Egholm, D. L., Knudsen, M. F., Jansen, J. D., and Nielsen, S. B.: The periglacial engine of mountain erosion – Part 1: Rates of frost cracking and frost creep, Earth Surf. Dynam., 3, 447–462, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-447-2015, 2015. 
Arnalds, O.: The soils of Iceland, Springer, ISBN 9401796211, 2015. 
Bengtsson, L., Andrae, U., Aspelien, T., Batrak, Y., Calvo, J., de Rooy, W., Gleeson, E., Hansen-Sass, B., Homleid, M., and Hortal, M.: The HARMONIE–AROME model configuration in the ALADIN–HIRLAM NWP system, Mon. Weather Rev., 145, 1919–1935, 2017. 
Berthling, I. and Etzelmuller, B.: The concept of cryo-conditioning in landscape evolution, Quaternary Res., 75, 378–384, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2010.12.011, 2011. 
Download
Short summary
Permafrost (permanently frozen ground) is widespread in the mountains of Norway and Iceland. Several boreholes were drilled after 1999 for long-term permafrost monitoring. We document a strong warming of permafrost, including the development of unfrozen bodies in the permafrost. Warming and degradation of mountain permafrost may lead to more natural hazards.