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- Title
Retrogressive Thaw Slumps on Ice‐Rich Permafrost Under Degradation: Results From a Large‐Scale Laboratory Simulation.
- Authors
Costard, F.; Dupeyrat, L.; Séjourné, A.; Bouchard, F.; Fedorov, A.; Saint‐Bézar, B.
- Abstract
In the ice‐rich permafrost of the Arctic regions, thermokarst erosion on slopes induces the formation of large‐scale retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS). They have significant geomorphological, hydrological, and biogeochemical impacts on the landscape. Further research is thus needed to better understand the respective effect of ice content and permafrost heterogeneities on the dynamics of these erosional features. Here, we present results of a full‐scale physical modeling of RTS development in a cold room. The experimental setup was designed to simulate and compare two ground‐ice settings (ice wedges, icy layers) with the thawing of ice‐poor permafrost (i.e., reference model). Our results show that the melting of the icy layers induces a loss of decohesion of the overlapping frozen soil. The heterogeneous frozen soil with ice wedges needs a longer time until degradation, but undergoes a stronger and faster decohesion of its structure during the thawing phase. Key Points: Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) result from the thermal destabilization of ice‐rich permafrost as a consequence of increasing subsurface temperatureExperimental RTS were designed to simulate the thawing of ice‐rich permafrost with vertical and horizontal ice layersOur laboratory simulations show how ground‐ice heterogeneities influence RTS development
- Subjects
ARCTIC regions; PERMAFROST; FROZEN ground; THAWING; TUNDRAS; THERMOKARST
- Publication
Geophysical Research Letters, 2021, Vol 48, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
0094-8276
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2020GL091070