A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic
Eroding permafrost coasts are likely indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few obse...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2018-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aae471 |
| _version_ | 1827870802358304768 |
|---|---|
| author | Benjamin M Jones Louise M Farquharson Carson A Baughman Richard M Buzard Christopher D Arp Guido Grosse Diana L Bull Frank Günther Ingmar Nitze Frank Urban Jeremy L Kasper Jennifer M Frederick Matthew Thomas Craig Jones Alejandro Mota Scott Dallimore Craig Tweedie Christopher Maio Daniel H Mann Bruce Richmond Ann Gibbs Ming Xiao Torsten Sachs Go Iwahana Mikhail Kanevskiy Vladimir E Romanovsky |
| author_facet | Benjamin M Jones Louise M Farquharson Carson A Baughman Richard M Buzard Christopher D Arp Guido Grosse Diana L Bull Frank Günther Ingmar Nitze Frank Urban Jeremy L Kasper Jennifer M Frederick Matthew Thomas Craig Jones Alejandro Mota Scott Dallimore Craig Tweedie Christopher Maio Daniel H Mann Bruce Richmond Ann Gibbs Ming Xiao Torsten Sachs Go Iwahana Mikhail Kanevskiy Vladimir E Romanovsky |
| author_sort | Benjamin M Jones |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Eroding permafrost coasts are likely indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few observation sites in the Arctic have yet to link decadal-scale erosion rates with changing environmental conditions due to temporal data gaps. This study increases the temporal fidelity of coastal permafrost bluff observations using near-annual high spatial resolution (<1 m) satellite imagery acquired between 2008–2017 for a 9 km segment of coastline at Drew Point, Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska. Our results show that mean annual erosion for the 2007–2016 decade was 17.2 m yr ^−1 , which is 2.5 times faster than historic rates, indicating that bluff erosion at this site is likely responding to changes in the Arctic System. In spite of a sustained increase in decadal-scale mean annual erosion rates, mean open water season erosion varied from 6.7 m yr ^−1 in 2010 to more than 22.0 m yr ^−1 in 2007, 2012, and 2016. This variability provided a range of coastal responses through which we explored the different roles of potential environmental drivers. The lack of significant correlations between mean open water season erosion and the environmental variables compiled in this study indicates that we may not be adequately capturing the environmental forcing factors, that the system is conditioned by long-term transient effects or extreme weather events rather than annual variability, or that other not yet considered factors may be responsible for the increased erosion occurring at Drew Point. Our results highlight an increase in erosion at Drew Point in the 21st century as well as the complexities associated with unraveling the factors responsible for changing coastal permafrost bluffs in the Arctic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:01:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f4b342390e224ea280331501892ed941 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:01:09Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-f4b342390e224ea280331501892ed9412023-08-09T14:38:27ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262018-01-01131111500110.1088/1748-9326/aae471A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the ArcticBenjamin M Jones0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1517-4711Louise M Farquharson1Carson A Baughman2Richard M Buzard3Christopher D Arp4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6485-6225Guido Grosse5Diana L Bull6Frank Günther7Ingmar Nitze8Frank Urban9Jeremy L Kasper10Jennifer M Frederick11Matthew Thomas12Craig Jones13Alejandro Mota14Scott Dallimore15Craig Tweedie16Christopher Maio17Daniel H Mann18Bruce Richmond19Ann Gibbs20Ming Xiao21Torsten Sachs22https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9959-4771Go Iwahana23Mikhail Kanevskiy24Vladimir E Romanovsky25Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaGeophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaAlaska Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK, United States of AmericaGeoscience Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaWater and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, GermanySandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, United States of AmericaAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, GermanyAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, GermanyGeosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, United States of AmericaInstitute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks AK, United States of AmericaSandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, United States of AmericaGeologic Hazards Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, CO, United States of AmericaIntegral Consulting, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of AmericaSandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of AmericaGeological Survey of Canada, British Columbia, CA, United States of AmericaUniversity of Texas El Paso , El Paso, TX, United States of AmericaGeoscience Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaGeoscience Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaPacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of AmericaPacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA, United States of AmericaGFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, GermanyInternational Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaInstitute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks AK, United States of AmericaGeophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaEroding permafrost coasts are likely indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few observation sites in the Arctic have yet to link decadal-scale erosion rates with changing environmental conditions due to temporal data gaps. This study increases the temporal fidelity of coastal permafrost bluff observations using near-annual high spatial resolution (<1 m) satellite imagery acquired between 2008–2017 for a 9 km segment of coastline at Drew Point, Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska. Our results show that mean annual erosion for the 2007–2016 decade was 17.2 m yr ^−1 , which is 2.5 times faster than historic rates, indicating that bluff erosion at this site is likely responding to changes in the Arctic System. In spite of a sustained increase in decadal-scale mean annual erosion rates, mean open water season erosion varied from 6.7 m yr ^−1 in 2010 to more than 22.0 m yr ^−1 in 2007, 2012, and 2016. This variability provided a range of coastal responses through which we explored the different roles of potential environmental drivers. The lack of significant correlations between mean open water season erosion and the environmental variables compiled in this study indicates that we may not be adequately capturing the environmental forcing factors, that the system is conditioned by long-term transient effects or extreme weather events rather than annual variability, or that other not yet considered factors may be responsible for the increased erosion occurring at Drew Point. Our results highlight an increase in erosion at Drew Point in the 21st century as well as the complexities associated with unraveling the factors responsible for changing coastal permafrost bluffs in the Arctic.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aae471arctic coastal erosionice-rich permafrostremote sensing change detectionArctic system |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin M Jones Louise M Farquharson Carson A Baughman Richard M Buzard Christopher D Arp Guido Grosse Diana L Bull Frank Günther Ingmar Nitze Frank Urban Jeremy L Kasper Jennifer M Frederick Matthew Thomas Craig Jones Alejandro Mota Scott Dallimore Craig Tweedie Christopher Maio Daniel H Mann Bruce Richmond Ann Gibbs Ming Xiao Torsten Sachs Go Iwahana Mikhail Kanevskiy Vladimir E Romanovsky A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic Environmental Research Letters arctic coastal erosion ice-rich permafrost remote sensing change detection Arctic system |
| title | A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic |
| title_full | A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic |
| title_fullStr | A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic |
| title_full_unstemmed | A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic |
| title_short | A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic |
| title_sort | decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the arctic |
| topic | arctic coastal erosion ice-rich permafrost remote sensing change detection Arctic system |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aae471 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benjaminmjones adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT louisemfarquharson adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT carsonabaughman adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT richardmbuzard adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT christopherdarp adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT guidogrosse adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT dianalbull adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT frankgunther adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT ingmarnitze adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT frankurban adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT jeremylkasper adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT jennifermfrederick adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT matthewthomas adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT craigjones adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT alejandromota adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT scottdallimore adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT craigtweedie adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT christophermaio adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT danielhmann adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT brucerichmond adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT anngibbs adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT mingxiao adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT torstensachs adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT goiwahana adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT mikhailkanevskiy adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT vladimireromanovsky adecadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT benjaminmjones decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT louisemfarquharson decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT carsonabaughman decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT richardmbuzard decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT christopherdarp decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT guidogrosse decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT dianalbull decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT frankgunther decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT ingmarnitze decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT frankurban decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT jeremylkasper decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT jennifermfrederick decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT matthewthomas decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT craigjones decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT alejandromota decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT scottdallimore decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT craigtweedie decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT christophermaio decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT danielhmann decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT brucerichmond decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT anngibbs decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT mingxiao decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT torstensachs decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT goiwahana decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT mikhailkanevskiy decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic AT vladimireromanovsky decadeofremotelysensedobservationshighlightcomplexprocesseslinkedtocoastalpermafrostblufferosioninthearctic |