Thaw Lakes of Northern Alaska |
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The
dominant landscape process on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern
Arctic soils and peatlands have global significance as sources of CO2 and CH4. An increase in the average depth of the active layer, integrated over the circumarctic, is of concern owing to the large quantity of organic carbon stored in the upper permafrost. Estimates of global carbon pools are crucial for climate modeling efforts, and this is particularly true of the Arctic where carbon reservoirs are large and susceptible to warming and positive feedback effects. Although soils of arctic ecosystems are estimated to contain 13% of the global carbon, recent studies of cryosols suggest that current estimates account for only about half of the actual amount (Tarnocai et al. 2003). Our current research represents the first systematic effort to determine the volume of SOC on the Coastal Plain of Alaska. It entails a unique combination of remote sensing, GIS, field data collection, and use of traditional native ecological knowledge. This novel approach is necessary since we are addressing processes that have strong spatial and temporal scales, requiring differing approaches to understanding landscape-scale response to climate change. Our extensive spatial and temporal analysis of DTLBs adds significantly to our understanding of the basic processes responsible for these important elements of the northern Alaskan landscape. Finally, this research has enabled us to develop and validate causative models of environmental change and carbon sequestering. Our work has been funded by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Below are several recently published papers on this topic in pdf format. In addition, several PowerPoint presentations and images can also be accessed using the links. Images and maps: Landsat 7+ image of Barrow Peninsula from August 2000.Age-classified image of drained thaw lake basins. Landsat 7+ image of Atqasuk area from August 2000. Video interview samples:
Video Clip: Flossie Itta (Mrs. Thomas Itta, Sr.) Taped in Atqasuk, August 2003. Flossie describes boat trips with her grandparents from when she was a girl, about 60 years ago. She recalls a time when she towed her grandparent’s boat up the Meade River and had to portage past large boulders. These are likely ice-rafted erratics of the Flaxman Formation, deposited during a brief interstadial high water stand some 75-80 kya. These boulders are now covered with fluvial sediments, suggesting that the sediment load in the Meade has increased during her lifetime. Video Clip: Ron Brower, Sr. Taped at Ron’s cabin on the Meade River Delta, August, 2003. Ron describes the very rapid sediment erosion taking place along the bluffs near his cabin on the Meade River Delta. Ron has had to move his cabin away from the bluff as the bluff face continues to erode. Recent publications related to drained thaw lake basins, in pdf format:
Remote Sensing of Thaw Lake Basins on the North Slope of Alaska.. Proceedings, American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, ASPRS 2001-Gateway to the New Millennium, April 23-27, 2001, St. Louis (on CD). Spatial Extent, Age, and Carbon Stocks in Drained Thaw Lake Basins on the Barrow Peninsula, Alsaka. Article published in Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 35(3), 2003. Carbon Pools and Accumulation Rates in an Age-Series of Soils in Drained Thaw-Lake Basins, Arctic Alaska. Article published in Soil Science Society of America Journal, 68, 2004. Predicting Carbon Storage in Tundra Soils of Arctic Alaska. Article published in Soil Science Society of America Journal, 67, 2003. Eisner PowerPoint Presentation to AAG in March 2004 U.S. Arctic Research Commission Permafrost Task Force Report: Climate Change, Permafrost, and Impacts on Civil Infrastructure The Report of the Chipp-Ikpikpuk River and Upper Meade River Oral History Project: Oral History Project
Paleoenvironmental Analysis of an Organic Deposit From an Erosional Landscape Remnant, Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Article published in Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 217, 2005. The Transient Layer: Implications for Geocryology and Climate-Change Science. Article published in Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 16, 2005. Satellite Remote Sensing Classification of Thaw Lakes and Drained Thaw Lake Basins on the North Slope of Alaska. Article published in Remote Sensing of Environment 97, 2005. Characteristics and significance of the transition zone in drained thaw-lake basins of the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska. Article published in Arctic 58, 2005. Nutarniq: Uniting the Arctic community with a wireless arctic network for circumpolar communications. Article published in Polar Geography 29, 2005. Morphometric and spatial analysis of thaw lakes and drained thaw lake basins in the western Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska. Article published in Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 16, 2005. Comment on "Formation of oriented of thaw lakes by thaw slumping" by Jon D. Pelletier, Article published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, 2006. Methods to assess natural and anthropogenic thaw lake drainage on the western Arctic coastal plain of northern Alaska, Article published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, Vol. 112, F02S16, doi:10.1029/2006JF000584, 2007.
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