Articles | Volume 19, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4989-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4989-2025
Research article
 | 
23 Oct 2025
Research article |  | 23 Oct 2025

Thermokarst lakes disturb the permafrost structure and stimulate through-talik formation in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China: a hydrogeophysical investigation

Xianmin Ke, Wei Wang, Fujun Niu, Zeyong Gao, Wenkang Huang, and Huake Cao

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Cited articles

Binley, A., Hubbard, S. S., Huisman, J. A., Revil, A., Robinson, D. A., Singha, K., and Slater, L. D.: The emergence of hydrogeophysics for improved understanding of subsurface processes over multiple scales, Water Resour. Res., 51, 3837–3866, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015wr017016, 2015. 
Bouchard, F., Francus, P., Pienitz, R., and Laurion, I.: Sedimentology and geochemistry of thermokarst ponds in discontinuous permafrost, subarctic Quebec, Canada, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 116, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011jg001883, 2011. 
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Creighton, A. L., Parsekian, A. D., Angelopoulos, M., Jones, B. M., Bondurant, A., Engram, M., Lenz, J., Overduin, P. P., Grosse, G., Babcock, E., and Arp, C. D.: Transient electromagnetic surveys for the determination of talik depth and geometry beneath thermokarst lakes, J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth, 123, 9310–9323, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jb016121, 2018. 
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Short summary
Permafrost measurements on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau are typically limited to seasonally frozen soils or permafrost at a few borehole locations, with little effort made to detect deep permafrost and sublake taliks. We employed electrical resistivity tomography and ground temperature measurement methods to determine the current permafrost structure, revealing that permafrost below three thermokarst lakes has completely thawed.
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