@article{ArboledaZapataAngelopoulosOverduinetal.2022, author = {Arboleda-Zapata, Mauricio and Angelopoulos, Michael and Overduin, Pier Paul and Grosse, Guido and Jones, Benjamin M. and Tronicke, Jens}, title = {Exploring the capabilities of electrical resistivity tomography to study subsea permafrost}, series = {The Cryosphere}, volume = {16}, journal = {The Cryosphere}, publisher = {Copernicus}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, issn = {1994-0424}, doi = {10.5194/tc-16-4423-2022}, pages = {4423 -- 4445}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Sea level rise and coastal erosion have inundated large areas of Arctic permafrost. Submergence by warm and saline waters increases the rate of inundated permafrost thaw compared to sub-aerial thawing on land. Studying the contact between the unfrozen and frozen sediments below the seabed, also known as the ice-bearing permafrost table (IBPT), provides valuable information to understand the evolution of sub-aquatic permafrost, which is key to improving and understanding coastal erosion prediction models and potential greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we use data from 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) collected in the nearshore coastal zone of two Arctic regions that differ in their environmental conditions (e.g., seawater depth and resistivity) to image and study the subsea permafrost. The inversion of 2D ERT data sets is commonly performed using deterministic approaches that favor smoothed solutions, which are typically interpreted using a user-specified resistivity threshold to identify the IBPT position. In contrast, to target the IBPT position directly during inversion, we use a layer-based model parameterization and a global optimization approach to invert our ERT data. This approach results in ensembles of layered 2D model solutions, which we use to identify the IBPT and estimate the resistivity of the unfrozen and frozen sediments, including estimates of uncertainties. Additionally, we globally invert 1D synthetic resistivity data and perform sensitivity analyses to study, in a simpler way, the correlations and influences of our model parameters. The set of methods provided in this study may help to further exploit ERT data collected in such permafrost environments as well as for the design of future field experiments.}, language = {en} } @misc{ArboledaZapataAngelopoulosOverduinetal.2022, author = {Arboleda-Zapata, Mauricio and Angelopoulos, Michael and Overduin, Pier Paul and Grosse, Guido and Jones, Benjamin M. and Tronicke, Jens}, title = {Exploring the capabilities of electrical resistivity tomography to study subsea permafrost}, series = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {1285}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-57123}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-571234}, pages = {4423 -- 4445}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Sea level rise and coastal erosion have inundated large areas of Arctic permafrost. Submergence by warm and saline waters increases the rate of inundated permafrost thaw compared to sub-aerial thawing on land. Studying the contact between the unfrozen and frozen sediments below the seabed, also known as the ice-bearing permafrost table (IBPT), provides valuable information to understand the evolution of sub-aquatic permafrost, which is key to improving and understanding coastal erosion prediction models and potential greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we use data from 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) collected in the nearshore coastal zone of two Arctic regions that differ in their environmental conditions (e.g., seawater depth and resistivity) to image and study the subsea permafrost. The inversion of 2D ERT data sets is commonly performed using deterministic approaches that favor smoothed solutions, which are typically interpreted using a user-specified resistivity threshold to identify the IBPT position. In contrast, to target the IBPT position directly during inversion, we use a layer-based model parameterization and a global optimization approach to invert our ERT data. This approach results in ensembles of layered 2D model solutions, which we use to identify the IBPT and estimate the resistivity of the unfrozen and frozen sediments, including estimates of uncertainties. Additionally, we globally invert 1D synthetic resistivity data and perform sensitivity analyses to study, in a simpler way, the correlations and influences of our model parameters. The set of methods provided in this study may help to further exploit ERT data collected in such permafrost environments as well as for the design of future field experiments.}, language = {en} } @article{CreightonParsekianAngelopoulosetal.2018, author = {Creighton, Andrea L. and Parsekian, Andrew D. and Angelopoulos, Michael and Jones, Benjamin M. and Bondurant, A. and Engram, M. and Lenz, Josefine and Overduin, Pier Paul and Grosse, Guido and Babcock, E. and Arp, Christopher D.}, title = {Transient Electromagnetic Surveys for the Determination of Talik Depth and Geometry Beneath Thermokarst Lakes}, series = {Journal of geophysical research : Solid earth}, volume = {123}, journal = {Journal of geophysical research : Solid earth}, number = {11}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {2169-9313}, doi = {10.1029/2018JB016121}, pages = {9310 -- 9323}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Thermokarst lakes are prevalent in Arctic coastal lowland regions and sublake permafrost degradation and talik development contributes to greenhouse gas emissions by tapping the large permafrost carbon pool. Whereas lateral thermokarst lake expansion is readily apparent through remote sensing and shoreline measurements, sublake thawed sediment conditions and talik growth are difficult to measure. Here we combine transient electromagnetic surveys with thermal modeling, backed up by measured permafrost properties and radiocarbon ages, to reveal closed-talik geometry associated with a thermokarst lake in continuous permafrost. To improve access to talik geometry data, we conducted surveys along three transient electromagnetic transects perpendicular to lakeshores with different decadal-scale expansion rates of 0.16, 0.38, and 0.58m/year. We modeled thermal development of the talik using boundary conditions based on field data from the lake, surrounding permafrost and a borehole, independent of the transient electromagnetics. A talik depth of 91m was determined from analysis of the transient electromagnetic surveys. Using a lake initiation age of 1400years before present and available subsurface properties the results from thermal modeling of the lake center arrived at a best estimate talk depth of 80m, which is on the same order of magnitude as the results from the transient electromagnetic survey. Our approach has provided a noninvasive estimate of talik geometry suitable for comparable settings throughout circum-Arctic coastal lowland regions.}, language = {en} } @article{FuchsLenzJocketal.2019, author = {Fuchs, Matthias and Lenz, Josefine and Jock, Suzanne and Nitze, Ingmar and Jones, Benjamin M. and Strauss, Jens and G{\"u}nther, Frank and Grosse, Guido}, title = {Organic carbon and nitrogen stocks along a thermokarst lake sequence in Arctic Alaska}, series = {Journal of geophysical research : Biogeosciences}, volume = {124}, journal = {Journal of geophysical research : Biogeosciences}, number = {5}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {2169-8953}, doi = {10.1029/2018JG004591}, pages = {1230 -- 1247}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Thermokarst lake landscapes are permafrost regions, which are prone to rapid (on seasonal to decadal time scales) changes, affecting carbon and nitrogen cycles. However, there is a high degree of uncertainty related to the balance between carbon and nitrogen cycling and storage. We collected 12 permafrost soil cores from six drained thermokarst lake basins (DTLBs) along a chronosequence north of Teshekpuk Lake in northern Alaska and analyzed them for carbon and nitrogen contents. For comparison, we included three lacustrine cores from an adjacent thermokarst lake and one soil core from a non thermokarst affected remnant upland. This allowed to calculate the carbon and nitrogen stocks of the three primary landscape units (DTLB, lake, and upland), to reconstruct the landscape history, and to analyze the effect of thermokarst lake formation and drainage on carbon and nitrogen stocks. We show that carbon and nitrogen contents and the carbon-nitrogen ratio are considerably lower in sediments of extant lakes than in the DTLB or upland cores indicating degradation of carbon during thermokarst lake formation. However, we found similar amounts of total carbon and nitrogen stocks due to the higher density of lacustrine sediments caused by the lack of ground ice compared to DTLB sediments. In addition, the radiocarbon-based landscape chronology for the past 7,000years reveals five successive lake stages of partially, spatially overlapping DTLBs in the study region, reflecting the dynamic nature of ice-rich permafrost deposits. With this study, we highlight the importance to include these dynamic landscapes in future permafrost carbon feedback models. Plain Language Summary When permanently frozen soils (permafrost) contain ice-rich sediments, the thawing of this permafrost causes the surface to sink, which may result in lake formation. This process, the thaw of ice-rich permafrost and melting of ground ice leads to characteristic landforms-known as thermokarst. Once such a thaw process is initiated in ice-rich sediments, a thaw lake forms and grows by shoreline erosion, eventually expanding until a drainage pathway is encountered and the lake eventually drains, resulting in a drained thermokarst lake basin. In our study, we show that such a thermokarst-affected landscape north of Teshekpuk Lake in northern Alaska is shaped by repeated thaw lake formation and lake drainage events during the past 7,000years, highlighting the dynamic nature of these landscapes. These landscape-scale processes have a big effect on the carbon and nitrogen stored in permafrost soils. We show that large amounts of carbon (>45kg C/m(2)) and nitrogen (>2.6kg N/m(2)) are stored in unfrozen lake sediments and in frozen soil sediments. The findings are important when considering the potential effect that permafrost thaw has for the global climate through releasing carbon and nitrogen, which was frozen and therefore locked away for millennia, from the active carbon cycle.}, language = {en} } @article{JonesArpGrosseetal.2020, author = {Jones, Benjamin M. and Arp, Christopher D. and Grosse, Guido and Nitze, Ingmar and Lara, Mark J. and Whitman, Matthew S. and Farquharson, Louise M. and Kanevskiy, Mikhail and Parsekian, Andrew D. and Breen, Amy L. and Ohara, Nori and Rangel, Rodrigo Correa and Hinkel, Kenneth M.}, title = {Identifying historical and future potential lake drainage events on the western Arctic coastal plain of Alaska}, series = {Permafrost and Periglacial Processes}, volume = {31}, journal = {Permafrost and Periglacial Processes}, number = {1}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {New York}, doi = {10.1002/ppp.2038}, pages = {110 -- 127}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Arctic lakes located in permafrost regions are susceptible to catastrophic drainage. In this study, we reconstructed historical lake drainage events on the western Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska between 1955 and 2017 using USGS topographic maps, historical aerial photography (1955), and Landsat Imagery (ca. 1975, ca. 2000, and annually since 2000). We identified 98 lakes larger than 10 ha that partially (>25\% of area) or completely drained during the 62-year period. Decadal-scale lake drainage rates progressively declined from 2.0 lakes/yr (1955-1975), to 1.6 lakes/yr (1975-2000), and to 1.2 lakes/yr (2000-2017) in the ~30,000-km(2) study area. Detailed Landsat trend analysis between 2000 and 2017 identified two years, 2004 and 2006, with a cluster (five or more) of lake drainages probably associated with bank overtopping or headward erosion. To identify future potential lake drainages, we combined the historical lake drainage observations with a geospatial dataset describing lake elevation, hydrologic connectivity, and adjacent lake margin topographic gradients developed with a 5-m-resolution digital surface model. We identified ~1900 lakes likely to be prone to drainage in the future. Of the 20 lakes that drained in the most recent study period, 85\% were identified in this future lake drainage potential dataset. Our assessment of historical lake drainage magnitude, mechanisms and pathways, and identification of potential future lake drainages provides insights into how arctic lowland landscapes may change and evolve in the coming decades to centuries.}, language = {en} } @misc{JonesArpGrosseetal.2020, author = {Jones, Benjamin M. and Arp, Christopher D. and Grosse, Guido and Nitze, Ingmar and Lara, Mark J. and Whitman, Matthew S. and Farquharson, Louise M. and Kanevskiy, Mikhail and Parsekian, Andrew D. and Breen, Amy L. and Ohara, Nori and Rangel, Rodrigo Correa and Hinkel, Kenneth M.}, title = {Identifying historical and future potential lake drainage events on the western Arctic coastal plain of Alaska}, series = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {1}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-61043}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-610435}, pages = {20}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Arctic lakes located in permafrost regions are susceptible to catastrophic drainage. In this study, we reconstructed historical lake drainage events on the western Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska between 1955 and 2017 using USGS topographic maps, historical aerial photography (1955), and Landsat Imagery (ca. 1975, ca. 2000, and annually since 2000). We identified 98 lakes larger than 10 ha that partially (>25\% of area) or completely drained during the 62-year period. Decadal-scale lake drainage rates progressively declined from 2.0 lakes/yr (1955-1975), to 1.6 lakes/yr (1975-2000), and to 1.2 lakes/yr (2000-2017) in the ~30,000-km(2) study area. Detailed Landsat trend analysis between 2000 and 2017 identified two years, 2004 and 2006, with a cluster (five or more) of lake drainages probably associated with bank overtopping or headward erosion. To identify future potential lake drainages, we combined the historical lake drainage observations with a geospatial dataset describing lake elevation, hydrologic connectivity, and adjacent lake margin topographic gradients developed with a 5-m-resolution digital surface model. We identified ~1900 lakes likely to be prone to drainage in the future. Of the 20 lakes that drained in the most recent study period, 85\% were identified in this future lake drainage potential dataset. Our assessment of historical lake drainage magnitude, mechanisms and pathways, and identification of potential future lake drainages provides insights into how arctic lowland landscapes may change and evolve in the coming decades to centuries.}, language = {en} } @article{JonesArpWhitmanetal.2017, author = {Jones, Benjamin M. and Arp, Christopher D. and Whitman, Matthew S. and Nigro, Debora and Nitze, Ingmar and Beaver, John and Gadeke, Anne and Zuck, Callie and Liljedahl, Anna and Daanen, Ronald and Torvinen, Eric and Fritz, Stacey and Grosse, Guido}, title = {A lake-centric geospatial database to guide research and inform management decisions in an Arctic watershed in northern Alaska experiencing climate and land-use changes}, series = {AMBIO}, volume = {46}, journal = {AMBIO}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Dordrecht}, issn = {0044-7447}, doi = {10.1007/s13280-017-0915-9}, pages = {769 -- 786}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Lakes are dominant and diverse landscape features in the Arctic, but conventional land cover classification schemes typically map them as a single uniform class. Here, we present a detailed lake-centric geospatial database for an Arctic watershed in northern Alaska. We developed a GIS dataset consisting of 4362 lakes that provides information on lake morphometry, hydrologic connectivity, surface area dynamics, surrounding terrestrial ecotypes, and other important conditions describing Arctic lakes. Analyzing the geospatial database relative to fish and bird survey data shows relations to lake depth and hydrologic connectivity, which are being used to guide research and aid in the management of aquatic resources in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Further development of similar geospatial databases is needed to better understand and plan for the impacts of ongoing climate and land-use changes occurring across lake-rich landscapes in the Arctic.}, language = {en} } @article{LenzGrosseJonesetal.2016, author = {Lenz, Josefine and Grosse, Guido and Jones, Benjamin M. and Anthony, Katey M. Walter and Bobrov, Anatoly and Wulf, Sabine and Wetterich, Sebastian}, title = {Mid-Wisconsin to Holocene Permafrost and Landscape Dynamics based on a Drained Lake Basin Core from the Northern Seward Peninsula, Northwest Alaska}, series = {Permafrost and Periglacial Processes}, volume = {27}, journal = {Permafrost and Periglacial Processes}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1045-6740}, doi = {10.1002/ppp.1848}, pages = {56 -- 75}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Permafrost-related processes drive regional landscape dynamics in the Arctic terrestrial system. A better understanding of past periods indicative of permafrost degradation and aggradation is important for predicting the future response of Arctic landscapes to climate change. Here, we used a multi-proxy approach to analyse a4m long sediment core from a drained thermokarst lake basin on the northern Seward Peninsula in western Arctic Alaska (USA). Sedimentological, biogeochemical, geochronological, micropalaeontological (ostracoda, testate amoebae) and tephra analyses were used to determine the long-term environmental Early-Wisconsin to Holocene history preserved in our core for central Beringia. Yedoma accumulation dominated throughout the Early to Late-Wisconsin but was interrupted by wetland formation from 44.5 to 41.5ka BP. The latter was terminated by the deposition of 1m of volcanic tephra, most likely originating from the South Killeak Maar eruption at about 42ka BP. Yedoma deposition continued until 22.5ka BP and was followed by a depositional hiatus in the sediment core between 22.5 and 0.23ka BP. We interpret this hiatus as due to intense thermokarst activity in the areas surrounding the site, which served as a sediment source during the Late-Wisconsin to Holocene climate transition. The lake forming the modern basin on the upland initiated around 0.23ka BP and drained catastrophically in spring 2005. The present study emphasises that Arctic lake systems and periglacial landscapes are highly dynamic and that permafrost formation as well as degradation in central Beringia was controlled by regional to global climate patterns as well as by local disturbances. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd.}, language = {en} } @article{LenzWetterichJonesetal.2016, author = {Lenz, Josefine and Wetterich, Sebastian and Jones, Benjamin M. and Meyer, Hanno and Bobrov, Anatoly and Grosse, Guido}, title = {Evidence of multiple thermokarst lake generations from an 11800-year-old permafrost core on the northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska}, series = {Boreas}, volume = {45}, journal = {Boreas}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0300-9483}, doi = {10.1111/bor.12186}, pages = {584 -- 603}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Permafrost degradation influences the morphology, biogeochemical cycling and hydrology of Arctic landscapes over a range of time scales. To reconstruct temporal patterns of early to late Holocene permafrost and thermokarst dynamics, site-specific palaeo-records are needed. Here we present a multi-proxy study of a 350-cm-long permafrost core from a drained lake basin on the northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, revealing Lateglacial toHolocene thermokarst lake dynamics in a central location of Beringia. Use of radiocarbon dating, micropalaeontology (ostracods and testaceans), sedimentology (grain-size analyses, magnetic susceptibility, tephra analyses), geochemistry (total nitrogen and carbon, total organic carbon, C-13(org)) and stable water isotopes (O-18, D, dexcess) of ground ice allowed the reconstruction of several distinct thermokarst lake phases. These include a pre-lacustrine environment at the base of the core characterized by the Devil Mountain Maar tephra (22800 +/- 280cal. a BP, Unit A), which has vertically subsided in places due to subsequent development of a deep thermokarst lake that initiated around 11800cal. a BP (Unit B). At about 9000cal. a BP this lake transitioned from a stable depositional environment to a very dynamic lake system (Unit C) characterized by fluctuating lake levels, potentially intermediate wetland development, and expansion and erosion of shore deposits. Complete drainage of this lake occurred at 1060cal. a BP, including post-drainage sediment freezing from the top down to 154cm and gradual accumulation of terrestrial peat (Unit D), as well as uniform upward talik refreezing. This core-based reconstruction of multiple thermokarst lake generations since 11800cal. a BP improves our understanding of the temporal scales of thermokarst lake development from initiation to drainage, demonstrates complex landscape evolution in the ice-rich permafrost regions of Central Beringia during the Lateglacial and Holocene, and enhances our understanding of biogeochemical cycles in thermokarst-affected regions of the Arctic.}, language = {en} } @article{MusterRileyRothetal.2019, author = {Muster, Sina and Riley, William J. and Roth, Kurt and Langer, Moritz and Aleina, Fabio Cresto and Koven, Charles D. and Lange, Stephan and Bartsch, Annett and Grosse, Guido and Wilson, Cathy J. and Jones, Benjamin M. and Boike, Julia}, title = {Size distributions of arctic waterbodies reveal consistent relations in their statistical moments in space and time}, series = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, volume = {7}, journal = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2296-6463}, doi = {10.3389/feart.2019.00005}, pages = {15}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Arctic lowlands are characterized by large numbers of small waterbodies, which are known to affect surface energy budgets and the global carbon cycle. Statistical analysis of their size distributions has been hindered by the shortage of observations at sufficiently high spatial resolutions. This situation has now changed with the high-resolution (<5 m) circum-Arctic Permafrost Region Pond and Lake (PeRL) database recently becoming available. We have used this database to make the first consistent, high-resolution estimation of Arctic waterbody size distributions, with surface areas ranging from 0.0001 km(2) (100 m(2)) to 1 km(2). We found that the size distributions varied greatly across the thirty study regions investigated and that there was no single universal size distribution function (including power-law distribution functions) appropriate across all of the study regions. We did, however, find close relationships between the statistical moments (mean, variance, and skewness) of the waterbody size distributions from different study regions. Specifically, we found that the spatial variance increased linearly with mean waterbody size (R-2 = 0.97, p < 2.2e-16) and that the skewness decreased approximately hyperbolically. We have demonstrated that these relationships (1) hold across the 30 Arctic study regions covering a variety of (bio)climatic and permafrost zones, (2) hold over time in two of these study regions for which multi-decadal satellite imagery is available, and (3) can be reproduced by simulating rising water levels in a high-resolution digital elevation model. The consistent spatial and temporal relationships between the statistical moments of the waterbody size distributions underscore the dominance of topographic controls in lowland permafrost areas. These results provide motivation for further analyses of the factors involved in waterbody development and spatial distribution and for investigations into the possibility of using statistical moments to predict future hydrologic dynamics in the Arctic.}, language = {en} }