Thermal erosion of ice-wedge polygon terrains changes fluxes of energy and matter of permafrost geosystems

Abstract:

Subsurface thermal erosion is triggered by convective heat transfers between flowing water and permafrost. Heat advection due to infiltration of run-off in the massive ice wedges and the ice-rich upper portion of permafrost creates sink holes and networks of interconnected tunnels in the permafrost. Mass movements such as collapse of tunnel’s roof, retrogressive thaw-slumping and active layer detachment slides lead to the development of extensive gully networks in the landscape. These gullies drastically change the hydrology of ice-wedge polygon terrains and the fluxes of heat, water, sediment, nutrients and carbon within the geosystem. Exportation of sediments out of gullies are positive mechanical feed-back that keep channels active for decades. Along gully margins, drainage of disturbed polygons and ponds, slope drainage, soil consolidation, gully walls colonization by vegetation and wet to mesic plant succession change the thermal properties of the active layer and create negative feedback effects that stabilize active erosion processes and promote permafrost recovery in gully slopes and adjacent disturbed polygons. On Bylot Island (Nunavut), over 40 gullies were monitored to characterize gully geomorphology, thermal and mechanical processes of gully erosion, rates of gully erosion over time within different sedimentary deposits, total volume of eroded permafrost at the landscape scale and gully hydrology. We conducted field and laboratory experiments to quantify heat convection processes and speed of ice wedge ablation in order to derive empirical equations to develop model of permafrost thermal erosion. We used data, collected over 10 years, of geomorphological gully monitoring and regional climate scenarios to evaluate the potential response of ice-wedge polygon terrains to changes in snow, permafrost thermal regime and hydrological conditions over the coming decades and its implication for the short and long term dynamics of arctic permafrost geosystems.