Climate Sensitivity of High Arctic Permafrost Terrain Demonstrated by Widespread Ice-Wedge Thermokarst on Banks Island

This paper shows that climate-driven thaw of hilltop ice-wedge networks is rapidly transforming uplands across Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Creator Robert H. Fraser, Steven V. Kokelj, Trevor C. Lantz, Morgan McFarlane-Winchester, Ian Olthof and Denis Lacelle
Summary Ice wedges form due to thermal contraction, cracking of the ground and infilling typically by snowmelt that refreezes to form a vein of ice. Over millennia, repeated cracking can cause large ice wedges to develop. The broad distribution and thaw sensitivity of ice-wedge networks suggests that evolution of polygonal terrain will have a major influence on landscape form and ecological and biogeochemical processes across a warming circumpolar Arctic.
Local Relevance Exploring permafrost effects
Notes
Tags Remote Sensing,Permafrost,Research
Geographic Region Beaufort Delta
Release Date 2018-06-12
Last Modified Date 2018-06-12
Funding Program