Articles | Volume 13, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1439-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1439-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
08 Mar 2016
Research article |
| 08 Mar 2016
Nonlinear thermal and moisture response of ice-wedge polygons to permafrost disturbance increases heterogeneity of high Arctic wetland
Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Center for Northern Studies, Laval University, Québec City, Québec, Canada
Daniel Fortier
Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Center for Northern Studies, Laval University, Québec City, Québec, Canada
Esther Lévesque
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada
Center for Northern Studies, Laval University, Québec City, Québec, Canada
Related authors
Samuel Gagnon, Daniel Fortier, Étienne Godin, and Audrey Veillette
The Cryosphere, 18, 4743–4763, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4743-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4743-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Thermo-erosion gullies (TEGs) are one of the most common forms of abrupt permafrost degradation. While their inception has been examined in several studies, the processes of their stabilization remain poorly documented. For this study, we investigated two TEGs in the Canadian High Arctic. We found that, while the formation of a TEG leaves permanent geomorphological scars in landscapes, in the long term, permafrost can recover to conditions similar to those pre-dating the initial disturbance.
Shannon M. Hibbard, Gordon R. Osinski, Etienne Godin, Antero Kukko, Chimira Andres, Shawn Chartrand, Anna Grau Galofre, A. Mark Jellinek, and Wendy Boucher
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-227, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-227, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates a new landform found on Axel Heiberg Island in Nunavut, Canada. Vermicular Ridge Features (VRFs) are comprised of a series of ridges and troughs creating a unique brain-like pattern. We aim to identify how VRFs form and assess the past climate conditions necessary for their formation. We use surface elevation and subsurface data to infer a formation mechanism. We propose VRFs were formed from the burial and removal of glacier ice as the glaciers were retreating.
Samuel Gagnon, Daniel Fortier, Étienne Godin, and Audrey Veillette
The Cryosphere, 18, 4743–4763, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4743-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4743-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Thermo-erosion gullies (TEGs) are one of the most common forms of abrupt permafrost degradation. While their inception has been examined in several studies, the processes of their stabilization remain poorly documented. For this study, we investigated two TEGs in the Canadian High Arctic. We found that, while the formation of a TEG leaves permanent geomorphological scars in landscapes, in the long term, permafrost can recover to conditions similar to those pre-dating the initial disturbance.
Madeleine-Zoé Corbeil-Robitaille, Éliane Duchesne, Daniel Fortier, Christophe Kinnard, and Joël Bêty
Biogeosciences, 21, 3401–3423, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the Arctic tundra, climate change is transforming the landscape, and this may impact wildlife. We focus on three nesting bird species and the islets they select as refuges from their main predator, the Arctic fox. A geomorphological process, ice-wedge polygon degradation, was found to play a key role in creating these refuges. This process is likely to affect predator–prey dynamics in the Arctic tundra, highlighting the connections between nature's physical and ecological systems.
Shannon M. Hibbard, Gordon R. Osinski, Etienne Godin, Antero Kukko, Chimira Andres, Shawn Chartrand, Anna Grau Galofre, A. Mark Jellinek, and Wendy Boucher
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-227, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-227, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates a new landform found on Axel Heiberg Island in Nunavut, Canada. Vermicular Ridge Features (VRFs) are comprised of a series of ridges and troughs creating a unique brain-like pattern. We aim to identify how VRFs form and assess the past climate conditions necessary for their formation. We use surface elevation and subsurface data to infer a formation mechanism. We propose VRFs were formed from the burial and removal of glacier ice as the glaciers were retreating.
Eliot Sicaud, Daniel Fortier, Jean-Pierre Dedieu, and Jan Franssen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 65–86, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-65-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-65-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
For vast northern watersheds, hydrological data are often sparse and incomplete. Our study used remote sensing and clustering to produce classifications of the George River watershed (GRW). Results show two types of subwatersheds with different hydrological behaviors. The GRW experienced a homogenization of subwatershed types likely due to an increase in vegetation productivity, which could explain the measured decline of 1 % (~0.16 km3 y−1) in the George River’s discharge since the mid-1970s.
Stéphanie Coulombe, Daniel Fortier, Frédéric Bouchard, Michel Paquette, Simon Charbonneau, Denis Lacelle, Isabelle Laurion, and Reinhard Pienitz
The Cryosphere, 16, 2837–2857, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2837-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2837-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Buried glacier ice is widespread in Arctic regions that were once covered by glaciers and ice sheets. In this study, we investigated the influence of buried glacier ice on the formation of Arctic tundra lakes on Bylot Island, Nunavut. Our results suggest that initiation of deeper lakes was triggered by the melting of buried glacier ice. Given future climate projections, the melting of glacier ice permafrost could create new aquatic ecosystems and strongly modify existing ones.
Jeffrey M. McKenzie, Barret L. Kurylyk, Michelle A. Walvoord, Victor F. Bense, Daniel Fortier, Christopher Spence, and Christophe Grenier
The Cryosphere, 15, 479–484, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-479-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-479-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Groundwater is an underappreciated catalyst of environmental change in a warming Arctic. We provide evidence of how changing groundwater systems underpin surface changes in the north, and we argue for research and inclusion of cryohydrogeology, the study of groundwater in cold regions.
Stephanie Coulombe, Daniel Fortier, Denis Lacelle, Mikhail Kanevskiy, and Yuri Shur
The Cryosphere, 13, 97–111, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-97-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-97-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a detailed description of relict glacier ice preserved in the permafrost of Bylot Island (Nunavut). We demonstrate that the 18O composition (-34.0 0.4 ‰) of the ice is consistent with the late Pleistocene age ice in the Barnes Ice Cap. As most of the glaciated Arctic landscapes are still strongly determined by their glacial legacy, the melting of these large ice bodies could have significant impacts on permafrost geosystem landscape dynamics and ecosystems.
Gautier Davesne, Daniel Fortier, Florent Domine, and James T. Gray
The Cryosphere, 11, 1351–1370, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1351-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1351-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents data from Mont Jacques-Cartier, the highest summit in the Appalachians of south-eastern Canada, to demonstrate that the occurrence of contemporary permafrost body is associated with a very thin and wind-packed winter snow cover which brings local azonal topo-climatic conditions on the dome-shaped summit. This study is an important preliminary step in modelling the regional spatial distribution of permafrost on the highest summits in eastern North America.
Naïm Perreault, Esther Lévesque, Daniel Fortier, and Laurent J. Lamarque
Biogeosciences, 13, 1237–1253, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1237-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1237-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the impacts of climate change and thawing permafrost on vegetation dynamics in Bylot Island, Nunavut. The development of gullies has created new drainage systems within the wetlands, promoting the emergence of mesic plants at the expense of hydrophilic ones within 10 years after disturbance inception. The landscape transformation from wet to mesic plant communities can have substantial consequences on food availability for herbivores and methane emissions of Arctic ecosystems.
F. Bouchard, I. Laurion, V. Prėskienis, D. Fortier, X. Xu, and M. J. Whiticar
Biogeosciences, 12, 7279–7298, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7279-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7279-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in permafrost aquatic systems of the Eastern Canadian Arctic. We found strikingly different ages, sources and emission rates depending on aquatic system types. Small and shallow ponds generally emitted young (modern to a few centuries old) GHG, whereas larger and deeper lakes released much older GHG, in particular millennium-old CH4 from lake central areas. To our knowledge, this work is the first to report on GHG age from Canadian Arctic lakes.
Related subject area
Earth System Science/Response to Global Change: Evolution of System Earth
Technical note: Low meteorological influence found in 2019 Amazonia fires
Understanding tropical forest abiotic response to hurricanes using experimental manipulations, field observations, and satellite data
Towards a global understanding of vegetation–climate dynamics at multiple timescales
Evaluating and improving the Community Land Model's sensitivity to land cover
The extant shore platform stromatolite (SPS) facies association: a glimpse into the Archean?
Historic carbon burial spike in an Amazon floodplain lake linked to riparian deforestation near Santarém, Brazil
Global assessment of Vegetation Index and Phenology Lab (VIP) and Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) version 3 products
Seasonal variation in grass water content estimated from proximal sensing and MODIS time series in a Mediterranean Fluxnet site
A red tide alga grown under ocean acidification upregulates its tolerance to lower pH by increasing its photophysiological functions
Short- and long-term thermo-erosion of ice-rich permafrost coasts in the Laptev Sea region
High-latitude cooling associated with landscape changes from North American boreal forest fires
Life-cycle evaluation of nitrogen-use in rice-farming systems: implications for economically-optimal nitrogen rates
Tephrostratigraphy and tephrochronology of lakes Ohrid and Prespa, Balkans
Douglas I. Kelley, Chantelle Burton, Chris Huntingford, Megan A. J. Brown, Rhys Whitley, and Ning Dong
Biogeosciences, 18, 787–804, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-787-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-787-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Initial evidence suggests human ignitions or landscape changes caused most Amazon fires during August 2019. However, confirmation is needed that meteorological conditions did not have a substantial role. Assessing the influence of historical weather on burning in an uncertainty framework, we find that 2019 meteorological conditions alone should have resulted in much less fire than observed. We conclude socio-economic factors likely had a strong role in the high recorded 2019 fire activity.
Ashley E. Van Beusekom, Grizelle González, Sarah Stankavich, Jess K. Zimmerman, and Alonso Ramírez
Biogeosciences, 17, 3149–3163, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3149-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3149-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study looks at forest abiotic responses to canopy openness and debris deposition that follow a hurricane. We find that recovery to full canopy may take over half a decade and that recovery of humidity, soil moisture, and leaf saturation under the canopy is not monotonic and may temporarily look recovered before the response is over. Furthermore, we find that satellite data show a quicker recovery than field data, necessitating caution when looking at responses to hurricanes with satellites.
Nora Linscheid, Lina M. Estupinan-Suarez, Alexander Brenning, Nuno Carvalhais, Felix Cremer, Fabian Gans, Anja Rammig, Markus Reichstein, Carlos A. Sierra, and Miguel D. Mahecha
Biogeosciences, 17, 945–962, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-945-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-945-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation typically responds to variation in temperature and rainfall within days. Yet seasonal changes in meteorological conditions, as well as decadal climate variability, additionally shape the state of ecosystems. It remains unclear how vegetation responds to climate variability on these different timescales. We find that the vegetation response to climate variability depends on the timescale considered. This scale dependency should be considered for modeling land–atmosphere interactions.
Ronny Meier, Edouard L. Davin, Quentin Lejeune, Mathias Hauser, Yan Li, Brecht Martens, Natalie M. Schultz, Shannon Sterling, and Wim Thiery
Biogeosciences, 15, 4731–4757, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4731-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4731-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Deforestation not only releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere but also affects local climatic conditions by altering energy fluxes at the land surface and thereby the local temperature. Here, we evaluate the local impact of deforestation in a widely used land surface model. We find that the model reproduces the daytime warming effect of deforestation well. On the other hand, the warmer temperatures observed during night in forests are not present in this model.
Alan Smith, Andrew Cooper, Saumitra Misra, Vishal Bharuth, Lisa Guastella, and Riaan Botes
Biogeosciences, 15, 2189–2203, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2189-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2189-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Growing shore-platform stromatolites are increasingly found on modern rocky coasts. Stromatolites are very similar to Archean and Proterozoic stromatolites. A study of modern stromatolites may shed light on the conditions that existed on the early Earth and other planets and possibly provide information on how life began.
Luciana M. Sanders, Kathryn Taffs, Debra Stokes, Christian J. Sanders, Alex Enrich-Prast, Leonardo Amora-Nogueira, and Humberto Marotta
Biogeosciences, 15, 447–455, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-447-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-447-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The Amazon rainforest produce large quantities of carbon, a portion of which is deposited in floodplain lakes. This research shows a potentially important spatial dependence of the carbon deposition in the Amazon lacustrine sediments in relation to deforestation rates in the catchment. The findings presented here highlight the effects of abrupt and temporary events in which some of the biomass released by the deforestation reach the depositional environments in the Amazon floodplains.
M. Marshall, E. Okuto, Y. Kang, E. Opiyo, and M. Ahmed
Biogeosciences, 13, 625–639, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-625-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-625-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We compared two new Earth observation based long-term global vegetation index products used in global change research (Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies and Vegetation Index and Phenology Lab- VIP version 3). The two products showed a high level of consistency throughout the primary growing season and were less consistent during green-up and brown-down that impacted trends in phenology. VIP was generally higher and more variable leading to poorer correlations with in situ data
G. Mendiguren, M. Pilar Martín, H. Nieto, J. Pacheco-Labrador, and S. Jurdao
Biogeosciences, 12, 5523–5535, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5523-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5523-2015, 2015
S. Chen, J. Beardall, and K. Gao
Biogeosciences, 11, 4829–4837, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-4829-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-4829-2014, 2014
F. Günther, P. P. Overduin, A. V. Sandakov, G. Grosse, and M. N. Grigoriev
Biogeosciences, 10, 4297–4318, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-4297-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-4297-2013, 2013
B. M. Rogers, J. T. Randerson, and G. B. Bonan
Biogeosciences, 10, 699–718, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-699-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-699-2013, 2013
Y. Xia and X. Yan
Biogeosciences, 8, 3159–3168, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-3159-2011, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-3159-2011, 2011
R. Sulpizio, G. Zanchetta, M. D'Orazio, H. Vogel, and B. Wagner
Biogeosciences, 7, 3273–3288, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-3273-2010, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-3273-2010, 2010
Cited articles
Allard, M., Sarrazin, D., and L'Hérault, E.: Borehole monitoring
temperatures in northeastern Canada, v. 1.2 (1988–2014), Nordicana D,
https://doi.org/10.5885/45291SL-34F28A9491014AFD, 2014.
Ballantyne, C. K.: Periglacial Landforms | Patterned Ground, Elsevier, Oxford, 2182–2191,
https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-44-452747-8/00107-1, 2007.
Billings, W. D. and Peterson, K. M.: Vegetational change and ice-wedge
polygons through the thaw-lake cycle in Arctic Alaska, Arct. Alp. Res., 12,
413–432, https://doi.org/10.2307/1550492, 1980.
Black, R. F.: Periglacial features indicative of permafrost:
ice and soil wedges, Quaternary Res., 6, 3–26,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(76)90037-5, 1976.
Bliss, L. C. and Gold, W. G.: The patterning of plant
communities and edaphic factors along a high arctic coastline: implications
for succession, Can. J. Botany, 72, 1095–1107, https://doi.org/10.1139/b94-134, 1994.
Bouchard, F., Laurion, I., Preskienis, V., Fortier, D., Xu, X., and Whiticar,
M. J.: Modern to millennium-old greenhouse gases emitted from ponds and lakes
of the Eastern Canadian Arctic (Bylot Island, Nunavut), Biogeosciences, 12,
7279–7298, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7279-2015, 2015.
Boudreau, L. D. and Rouse, W. R.: The role of individual terrain units in the
water balance of wetland tundra, Clim. Res., 5, 31–47, 1995.
Brown, J., Hinkel, K. M., and Nelson, F. E.: The circumpolar active layer
monitoring (CALM) program: research designs and initial results 1, Polar
Geography, 24, 166–258, https://doi.org/10.1080/10889370009377698, 2000.
CEN: Environmental data from Bylot Island in Nunavut, Canada, v. 1.4
(1992–2014), Nordicana D, https://doi.org/10.5885/45039SL-EE76C1BDAADC4890, 2014.
Chen, Z., Chen, W., Leblanc, S. G., and Henry, G. H.: Digital photograph
analysis for measuring percent plant cover in the Arctic, Arctic, 63,
315–326, 2010.
Cresto Aleina, F., Brovkin, V., Muster, S., Boike, J., Kutzbach, L., Sachs,
T., and Zuyev, S.: A stochastic model for the polygonal tundra based on
Poisson-Voronoi diagrams, Earth Syst. Dynam., 4, 187–198,
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-4-187-2013, 2013.
Czarnomski, N. M., Moore, G. W., Pypker, T. G., Licata, J., and Bond, B. J.:
Precision and accuracy of three alternative instruments for measuring soil
water content in two forest soils of the Pacific Northwest, Can. J. Forest
Res., 35, 1867–1876, https://doi.org/10.1139/x05-121, 2005.
Daubenmire, R.: A canopy-coverage method of vegetational analysis, Northwest
Sci., 33, 43–64, 1959.
Dostovalov, B. N. and Popov, A. I.: Polygonal systems of ice-wedges and
conditions of their development, in: Proceedings of the First International
Conference on Permafrost, vol. 1, National Academy of Sciences-National
Research Council, 11–15 November 1963, Lafayette, Indiana, USA, 102–105,
1963.
Environment Canada: Canadian Climate Normals, 1981–2010, Pond Inlet, 2014.
Fortier, D. and Allard, M.: Late Holocene syngenetic ice-wedge polygons
development, Bylot Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Can. J.
Earth Sci., 41, 997–1012, https://doi.org/10.1139/e04-031, 2004.
Fortier, D. and Allard, M.: Frost-cracking conditions, Bylot Island, Eastern
Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Permafrost Periglac., 16, 145–161,
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.504, 2005.
Fortier, D., Allard, M., and Shur, Y.: Observation of rapid drainage system
development by thermal erosion of ice wedges on Bylot island, Canadian
Arctic Archipelago, Permafrost Periglac., 18, 229–243, 2007.
Fortier, D., Godin, E., Lévesque, E., Veillette, A., and Lamarque, L. :
Thermal erosion of ice-wedge polygon terrains changes fluxes of energy and
matter of permafrost geosystems, Abstract GC22C-04 presented at 2015 Fall
Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 14–18 December, 2015.
French, H. M.: The Periglacial Environment, 3rd Edn., John Wiley and Sons,
Chichester, England, Hoboken, NJ, 2007.
Gangodagamage, C., Rowland, J. C., Hubbard, S. S., Brumby, S. P.,
Liljedahl, A. K., Wainwright, H., Wilson, C. J., Altmann, G. L., Dafflon, B.,
Peterson, J., Ulrich, C., Tweedie, C. E., and Wullschleger, S. D.:
Extrapolating active layer thickness measurements across Arctic polygonal
terrain using LiDAR and NDVI data sets, Water Resour. Res., 50, 6339–6357,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR014283, 2014.
Gauthier, G., Rochefort, L., and Reed, A.: The exploitation of wetland
ecosystems by herbivores on Bylot island, Geosci. Can., 23, 253–259, 1996.
Gauthier, G., Giroux, J.-F., Reed, A., Béchet, A., and Bélanger, L.:
Interactions between land use, habitat use, and population increase in
greater snow geese: what are the consequences for natural wetlands?, Glob.
Change Biol., 11, 856–868, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2005.00944.x, 2005.
Gauthier, G., Berteaux, D., Bety, J., Tarroux, A., Therrien, J. F.,
McKinnon, L., Legagneux, P., and Cadieux, M. C.: The tundra food web of Bylot
Island in a changing climate and the role of exchanges between ecosystems,
Ecoscience, 18, 223–235, 2011.
Gauthier, G., Béty, J., Cadieux, M.-C., Legagneux, P., Doiron, M.,
Chevallier, C., Lai, S., Tarroux, A., and Berteaux, D.: Long-term monitoring
at multiple trophic levels suggests heterogeneity in responses to climate
change in the Canadian Arctic tundra, Philos. T. R. Soc. B, 368, 20120482,
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0482, 2013.
Godin, E. and Fortier, D.: Geomorphology of thermo-erosion gullies – case
study from Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada, in: Proceedings of the
Sixty-Third Canadian Geotechnical Conference & Sixth Canadian Permafrost
Conference, vol. 1, Calgary, Canada, 1540–1547, 12–16 September 2010,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, available at:
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/cpc/CPC6-1540.pdf (last access: 26
February 2016), 2010.
Godin, E. and Fortier, D.: Fine-scale spatio-temporal monitoring of multiple
thermo-erosion gully development on Bylot Island, Eastern Canadian
Archipelago, in: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on
Permafrost, vol. 1, edited by: Hinkel, K. M., The Northern Publisher
Salekhard, 125–130, 25–29 June 2012, Salekhard, Russia, available at:
http://ipa.arcticportal.org/meetings/international-conferences (last
access: 24 July 2015), 2012a.
Godin, E. and Fortier, D.: Geomorphology of a thermo-erosion gully, Bylot
Island, Nunavut, Canada, Can. J. Earth Sci., 49, 979–986,
https://doi.org/10.1139/e2012-015, 2012b.
Godin, E., Fortier, D., and Coulombe, S.: Effects of thermo-erosion gullying
on hydrologic flow networks, discharge and soil loss, Environ. Res. Lett., 9,
105010, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/105010, 2014.
Helbig, M., Boike, J., Langer, M., Schreiber, P., Runkle, B. K., and
Kutzbach, L.: Spatial and seasonal variability of polygonal tundra water
balance: Lena River Delta, northern Siberia (Russia), Hydrogeol. J., 21,
133–147, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-012-0933-4, 2013.
Hinzman, L. D., Kane, D. L., Gieck, R. E., and Everett, K. R.: Hydrologic and
thermal properties of the active layer in the Alaskan Arctic, Cold Reg. Sci.
Technol., 19, 95–110, https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-232X(91)90001-W, 1991.
Inland Water Branch: Bylot Island Glacier Inventory: Area 46201, Department
of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, 76 pp., 1969.
Jia, G. J., Epstein, H. E., and Walker, D. A.: Greening of arctic Alaska,
1981–2001, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 2067, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL018268, 2003.
Jorgenson, M. T. and Osterkamp, T. E.: Response of boreal ecosystems to
varying modes of permafrost degradation, Can. J. Forest Res., 35, 2100–2111,
https://doi.org/10.1139/x05-153, 2005.
Jorgenson, M. T., Shur, Y. L., and Pullman, E. R.: Abrupt increase in
permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L02503,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL024960, 2006.
Jumikis, A. R.: Thermal Geotechnics, Rutgers University Press, New
Brunswick, N. J., 1977.
Klene, A. E., Nelson, F. E., Shiklomanov, N. I., and Hinkel, K. M.: The
n-factor in natural landscaper: variability of air and soil-surface
temperatures, Kuparuk River basin, Alaska, USA, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 33,
140–148, https://doi.org/10.2307/1552214, 2001.
Liljedahl, A. K., Hinzman, L. D., Harazono, Y., Zona, D., Tweedie, C. E.,
Hollister, R. D., Engstrom, R., and Oechel, W. C.: Nonlinear controls on
evapotranspiration in arctic coastal wetlands, Biogeosciences, 8, 3375–3389,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-3375-2011, 2011.
Liljedahl, A. K., Hinzman, L., and Schulla J.: Ice-Wedge polygon type
controls low-gradient watershed-scale hydrology, in: Proceedings of the Tenth
International Conference on Permafrost, vol. 1, edited by: Hinkel, K. M., The
Northern Publisher Salekhard, 231–236, 25–29 June 2012, Salekhard, Russia,
available at:
http://ipa.arcticportal.org/meetings/international-conferences (last
access: 4 December 2015), 2012.
Lunardini, V. J.: Theory of n-factors and correlation of data, in:
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Permafrost, 10–13 July
1978, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, vol. 1, 40–46, 1978.
Mackay, J. and MacKay, D.: Snow cover and ground temperatures, Garry
Island, N. W. T, Arctic, 27, 287–296, 1974.
Mackay, J. R.: The first 7 years (1978–1985) of ice wedge growth, Illisarvik
experimental drained lake site, western Arctic coast, Can. J. Earth Sci., 23,
1782–1795, https://doi.org/10.1139/e86-164, 1986.
Massé, H., Rochefort, L., and Gauthier, G.: Carrying capacity of wetland
habitats used by breeding greater snow geese, J. Wildlife Manage., 65,
271–281, https://doi.org/10.2307/3802906, 2001.
Minke, M., Donner, N., Karpov, N., de Klerk, P., and Joosten, H.: Patterns in
vegetation composition, surface height and thaw depth in polygon mires in the
Yakutian Arctic (NE Siberia): a microtopographical characterisation of the
active layer, Permafrost Periglac., 20, 357–368, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.663, 2009.
Myers-Smith, I. H., Forbes, B. C., Wilmking, M., Hallinger, M., Lantz, T.,
Blok, D., Tape, K. D., Macias-Fauria, M., Sass-Klaassen, U.,
Lévesque, E., Boudreau, S., Ropars, P., Hermanutz, L., Trant, A.,
Collier, L. S., Weijers, S., Rozema, J., Rayback, S. A., Schmidt, N. M.,
Schaepman-Strub, G., Wipf, S., Rixen, C., Ménard, C. B., Venn, S.,
Goetz, S., Andreu-Hayles, L., Elmendorf, S., Ravolainen, V., Welker, J.,
Grogan, P., Epstein, H. E., and Hik, D. S.: Shrub expansion in tundra
ecosystems: dynamics, impacts and research priorities, Environ. Res. Lett.,
6, 045509, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045509, 2011.
Perreault, N.: Impact of permafrost gullying on wetland habitat, Bylot
Island, Nunavut, Canada, MS thesis, UQTR, Trois-Rivières, Québec,
Canada, 2012.
Perreault, N., Lévesque, E., Fortier, D., and Lamarque, L. J.:
Thermo-erosion gullies boost the transition from wet to mesic
vegetation, Biogeosciences Discuss., 12, 12191–12228, https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-12-12191-2015, 2015.
R Core Team: R: a Language and Environment for Statistical Computing, R
Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, available at:
http://www.R-project.org/ (last access: 24 July 2015), 2014.
Shiklomanov, N. I., Streletskiy, D. A., Nelson, F. E., Hollister, R. D.,
Romanovsky, V. E., Tweedie, C. E., Bockheim, J. G., and Brown, J.: Decadal
variations of active-layer thickness in moisture-controlled landscapes,
Barrow, Alaska, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 115, G00I04,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JG001248, 2010.
Sidorchuk A.: Dynamic and static models of gully erosion, CATENA, 37,
401–414, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0341-8162(99)00029-6, 1999.
Tranvik, L. J., Downing, J. A., Cotner, J. B., Loiselle, S. A.,
Striegl, R. G., Ballatore, T. J., Dillon, P., Finlay, K., Fortino, K.,
Knoll, L. B., Kortelainen, P. L., Kutser, T., Larsen, S., Laurion, I.,
Leech, D. M., McCallister, S. L., McKnight, D. M., Melack, J. M.,
Overholt, E., Porter, J. A., Prairie, Y., Renwick, W. H., Roland, F.,
Sherman, B. S., Schindler, D. W., Sobek, S., Tremblay, A., Vanni, M. J.,
Verschoor, A. M., von Wachenfeldt, E., and Weyhenmeyer, G. A.: Lakes and
reservoirs as regulators of carbon cycling and climate, Limnol. Oceanogr.,
54, 2298–2314, https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2009.54.6_part_2.2298, 2009.
Walker, D. A., Epstein, H. E., Gould, W. A., Kelley, A. M., Kade, A. N.,
Knudson, J. A., Krantz, W. B., Michaelson, G., Peterson, R. A., Ping, C. L.,
Raynolds, M. K., Romanovsky, V. E., and Shur, Y.: Frost-boil ecosystems:
complex interactions between landforms, soils, vegetation and climate,
Permafrost Periglac., 15, 171–188, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.487, 2004.
Watanabe, T., Matsuoka, N., and Christiansen, H. H.: Ice- and soil-wedge
dynamics in the Kapp Linné Area, Svalbard, investigated by two- and
three-dimensional GPR and ground thermal and acceleration regimes, Permafrost
Periglac., 24, 39–55, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1767, 2013.
Woo, M. K. and Young, K.: Wetlands of the Canadian Arctic, book section 229,
in: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, Springer, the Netherlands,
902–914, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4410-6_229, 2012.
Woo, M.-K., Mollinga, M., and Smith, S. L.: Climate warming and active layer
thaw in the boreal and tundra environments of the Mackenzie Valley, Can. J.
Earth Sci., 44, 733–743, https://doi.org/10.1139/e06-121, 2007.
Zoltai, S. C. and Tarnocai, C.: Perennially Frozen peatlands in the Western
Arctic and subarctic of Canada, Can. J. Earth Sci., 12, 28–43,
https://doi.org/10.1139/e75-004, 1975.
Short summary
Bowl-shaped ice-wedge polygons in permafrost regions can retain snowmelt water and moisture in their center. On Bylot Island (NU, CA), a rapidly developing thermal erosion gully eroded the polygons' ridges, impacting the polygon centers' ground moisture and temperature, plant cover and species. An intact polygon was homogeneous in its center for the aforementioned elements, whereas eroded polygons had a varying response following the breach, with heterogeneity as their new equilibrium state.
Bowl-shaped ice-wedge polygons in permafrost regions can retain snowmelt water and moisture in...
Special issue
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint