Permafrost Terrain Stability and Thermokarst Monitoring: - Arctic LCC

69. Jorgenson, M.T., Yoshikawa, K., Kanevskiy, M., Shur, Y., Romanovsky, V.,
Marchenko, S., Grosse, G., Brown, J., and Jones, B., 2008, Permafrost characteristics
of Alaska, in Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Permafrost, June
2008, Fairbanks, AK, map.
This map is an update to the permafrost distribution map for Alaska using a terrain-unit
approach based on climate and surficial geology. It is the third iteration of the statewide
map. The permafrost map is coded with information on surficial geology, mean annual air
temperature, primary soil texture, permafrost extent, ground ice volume, and primary
thermokarst landforms. The main map on p. 1 shows the distribution of continuous,
discontinuous, sporadic, and isolated permafrost in Alaska along with locations in which the
permafrost thickness is known. On p. 2, there are six accompanying maps that show PRISMbased
mean annual air temperature, surface geology, ground temperatures, ground ice,
pingos, ice wedges, and thermokarst landforms. The thermokarst landform map shows 13
types of resolvable features at the mapping scale: (1) deep thermokarst lakes, (2) shallow
thermokarst lakes, (3) basins, (4) troughs, (5) pits, (6) sinks, (7) bogs, (8) fens, (9) thaw
slumps, (10) gullies, (11) water tracks, (12) polygonal troughs, and (13) glacial thermokarst.
The authors state that, although this map is an improvement of the prior two mapping
efforts, a better surficial geology map is needed with updated information and better spatial
accuracy, more information on terrain-ground ice-temperature-permafrost relationships,
more temperature boreholes, and improved spatial models.
70. Kanevskiy, M., Shur, Y., Fortier, D., Jorgenson, M.T., and Stephani, E., 2011,
Cryostratigraphy of late Pleistocene syngenetic permafrost (yedoma) in northern
Alaska, Itkillik River exposure: Quaternary Research, v. 75, no. 3, p. 584–596.
This paper provides an overview on the nature and distribution of yedoma in the Arctic,
describes the characteristics of a yedoma exposure in northern Alaska, and provides an
overview map of the potential distribution of yedoma in Alaska. Yedoma permafrost
deposits typically refer to late-Pleistocene syngenetic permafrost, which typically has very
high ground-ice content. The exposure that was studied in northern Alaska represents 40,000
years of undisturbed yedoma formation. The lack of yedoma in certain regions of northern
Alaska forms the basis of the hypothesis that parts of the Arctic Coastal Plain were glaciated
during the Pleistocene.
71. Kanevskiy, M., Shur, Y., Jorgenson, M.T., Ping, C.L., Michaelson, G.J., Fortier, D.,
Stephani, E., Dillon, M., and Tumskoy, V., 2013, Ground ice in the upper permafrost
of the Beaufort Sea coast of Alaska: Cold Regions Science and Technology, v. 85,
p. 56–70.
This paper quantifies ice structures in the five dominant terrain units on the Arctic Coastal
Plain: (1) primary surface (silty deposits in the west to gravelly sand in the east), (2) low
yedoma foothills, (3) drained lake basins, (4) deltas and tidal flats, and (5) eolian sand
dunes. Wedge-ice volumes and total volumetric ice were calculated. Wedge ice was the
dominant form of massive ice, ranging from 3 to 50 percent, and occurring in nearly all
terrains. Other types of massive ice included thermokarst cave ice, ice core pingos, and
folded massive ice. Most of the soils were classified as frost-susceptible silts, resulting in
extremely ice-rich permafrost dominated by ataxitic cryostructure. Ice content was notably
lower in young drained lake basins, deltas, and tidal flats. The authors discussed formation
and calculation of the size of the transition layer, which is the ice-rich upper part of the
permafrost, the formation of which greatly elevates the landscape.
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