This paper provides a snapshot of the permafrost thermal state in the Nordic area obtained during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2009. Several intensive research campaigns were undertaken within a variety of projects in the Nordic countries to obtain this snapshot. We demonstrate for Scandinavia that both lowland permafrost in palsas and peat plateaus, and large areas of permafrost in the mountains are at temperatures close to 0°C, which makes them sensitive to climatic changes. In Svalbard and northeast Greenland, and also in the highest parts of the mountains in the rest of the Nordic area, the permafrost is somewhat colder, but still only a few degrees below the freezing point. The observations presented from the network of boreholes, more than half of which were established during the IPY, provide an important baseline to assess how future predicted climatic changes may affect the permafrost thermal state in the Nordic area. Time series of active-layer thickness and permafrost temperature conditions in the Nordic area, which are generally only 10 years in length, show generally increasing active-layer depths and rising permafrost temperatures.
A research-based understanding of permafrost distribution at a sufficient spatial resolution is important to meet the demands of science, education and society. We present a new permafrost map for Norway, Sweden and Finland that provides a more detailed and updated description of permafrost distribution in this area than previously available. We implemented the CryoGRID1 model at 1km(2) resolution, forced by a new operationally gridded data-set of daily air temperature and snow cover for Finland, Norway and Sweden. Hundred model realisations were run for each grid cell, based on statistical snow distributions, allowing for the representation of sub-grid variability of ground temperature. The new map indicates a total permafrost area (excluding palsas) of 23 400km(2) in equilibrium with the average 1981-2010 climate, corresponding to 2.2 per cent of the total land area. About 56 per cent of the area is in Norway, 35 per cent in Sweden and 9 per cent in Finland. The model results are thoroughly evaluated, both quantitatively and qualitatively, as a collaboration project including permafrost experts in the three countries. Observed ground temperatures from 25 boreholes are within +/- 2 degrees C of the average modelled grid cell ground temperature, and all are within the range of the modelled ground temperature for the corresponding grid cell. Qualitative model evaluation by field investigators within the three countries shows that the map reproduces the observed lower altitudinal limits of mountain permafrost and the distribution of lowland permafrost.
We investigated total storage and landscape partitioning of soil organic carbon (SOC) in continuous permafrost terrain, central Canadian Arctic. The study is based on soil chemical analyses of pedons sampled to 1-m depth at 35 individual sites along three transects. Radiocarbon dating of cryoturbated soil pockets, basal peat and fossil wood shows that cryoturbation processes have been occurring since the Middle Holocene and that peat deposits started to accumulate in a forest-tundra environment where spruce was present (∼6000 cal yrs BP). Detailed partitioning of SOC into surface organic horizons, cryoturbated soil pockets and non-cryoturbated mineral soil horizons is calculated (with storage in active layer and permafrost calculated separately) and explored using principal component analysis. The detailed partitioning and mean storage of SOC in the landscape are estimated from transect vegetation inventories and a land cover classification based on a Landsat satellite image. Mean SOC storage in the 0–100-cm depth interval is 33.8 kg C m−2, of which 11.8 kg C m−2 is in permafrost. Fifty-six per cent of the total SOC mass is stored in peatlands (mainly bogs), but cryoturbated soil pockets in Turbic Cryosols also contribute significantly (17%). Elemental C/N ratios indicate that this cryoturbated soil organic matter (SOM) decomposes more slowly than SOM in surface O-horizons.
Research on permafrost carbon has dramatically increased in the past few years. A new estimate of 1672 Pg C of belowground organic carbon in the northern circumpolar permafrost region more than doubles the previous value and highlights the potential role of permafrost carbon in the Earth System. Uncertainties in this new estimate remain due to relatively few available pedon data for certain geographic sectors and the deeper cryoturbated soil horizons, and the large polygon size in the soil maps used for upscaling. The large permafrost carbon pool is not equally distributed across the landscape: peat deposits, cryoturbated soils and the loess-like deposits of the yedoma complex contain disproportionately large amounts of soil organic matter, often exhibiting a low degree of decomposition. Recent findings in Alaska and northern Sweden provide strong evidence that the deeper soil carbon in permafrost terrain is starting to be released, supporting previous reports from Siberia. The permafrost carbon pool is not yet fully integrated in climate and ecosystem models and an important objective should be to define typical pedons appropriate for model setups. The thawing permafrost carbon feedback needs to be included in model projections of future climate change.
The current estimate of the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in the northern permafrost region of 1672 Petagrams (Pg) C is much larger than previously reported and needs to be incorporated in global soil carbon (C) inventories. The Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database (NCSCD), extended to include the range 0-300cm, is now available online for wider use by the scientific community. An important future aim is to provide quantitative uncertainty ranges for C pool estimates. Recent studies have greatly improved understanding of the regional patterns, landscape distribution and vertical (soil horizon) partitioning of the permafrost C pool in the upper 3m of soils. However, the deeper C pools in unconsolidated Quaternary deposits need to be better constrained. A general lability classification of the permafrost C pool should be developed to address potential C release upon thaw. The permafrost C pool and its dynamics are beginning to be incorporated into Earth System models, although key periglacial processes such as thermokarst still need to be properly represented to obtain a better quantification of the full permafrost C feedback on global climate change.
This study presents GIS-based estimates of permafrost extent in the northern circumpolar region during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), based on a review of previously published maps and compilations of field evidence in the form of ice-wedge pseudomorphs and relict sand wedges. We focus on field evidence localities in areas thought to have been located along the past southern border of permafrost. We present different reconstructions of permafrost extent, with areal estimates of exposed sea shelf, ice sheets and glaciers, to assess areas of minimum, likely and maximum permafrost extents. The GIS-based mapping of these empirical reconstructions allows us to estimate the likely area of northern permafrost during the LGM as 34.5 million km(2) (which includes 4.7 million km(2) of permafrost on exposed coastal sea shelves). The minimum estimate is 32.7 million km(2) and the maximum estimate is 35.3 million km(2). The extent of LGM permafrost is estimated to have been between c. 9.1 to 11.7 million km(2) larger than its current extent on land (23.6 million km(2)). However, 2.4 million km(2) of the lost land area currently remains as subsea permafrost on the submerged coastal shelves. The LGM permafrost extent in the northern circumpolar region during the LGM was therefore about 33 percent larger than at present. The net loss of northern permafrost since the LGM is due to its disappearance in large parts of Eurasia, which is not compensated for by gains in North America in areas formerly covered by the Laurentide ice sheet.
This meta-analysis aims to describe the relationship between grain size distributions and soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in mineral subsoil and SOC-enriched cryoturbated pockets in five areas of continuous permafrost that differ in glaciation history and soil parent materials. Our results show a positive relationship between the proportion of soil particles in fine-grained fractions (colloid to medium silt) and SOC storage. Finer textured soils had significantly higher SOC storage in mineral subsoil samples (not SOC-enriched through cryoturbation) than coarser textured soils. However, the process of SOC enrichment through cryoturbation was most pronounced in soils with coarser grain sizes in the range of coarse silt and very fine sand. Although fine-grained textures provide better physical and biochemical protection for soil organic matter, their strong cohesion reduces the mixing of soil horizons and the effectiveness of cryoturbation. A higher ratio of coarse silt to clay in samples was a good predictor of SOC enrichment through cryoturbation across soil samples, soil profiles and study areas.
Arctic amplification of climate warming is intensifying the thaw and coastal erosion of the widespread and carbon-rich Siberian Ice Complex Deposits (ICD). Despite the potential for altering long-term carbon dynamics in the Arctic, the susceptibility of organic carbon (OC) to degradation as the ICD thaw is poorly characterised. This study identifies signs of OC degradation in three Siberian ICD regimes of coastal erosion through elemental, isotopic and molecular analyses. The degree of erosion appears to determine the extent of degradation. The moisture-limited and beach-protected ICD bluff near Buor-Khaya Cape, characterised by thermokarst mounds (baydzherakhs), represents a dormant regime with limited ongoing degradation. Conversely, the more exposed ICD scarps on eroding riverbanks (Olenek Channel, Lena Delta) and coastal slopes (Muostakh Island) showed more pronounced signs of ongoing OC decay. Different parameters suggest that degradation can partially explain the shift of the OC signature with C-14 age in the thawing ICD. Exposure time, degree of erosion, slope gradient and moisture conditions appear to be key factors determining the degradation propensity of OC in exposed ICD. These field results document the lability of OC in ICD upon thaw and illustrate the potential for transferring old OC into the rapidly cycling atmosphere-biosphere carbon pools.
Subarctic permafrost peatlands cover extensive areas and store large amounts of soil organic carbon that can be remobilized as active layer deepening and thermokarst formation increase in a future warmer climate. Better knowledge of ground thermal variability within these ecosystems is important for understanding future landscape development and permafrost carbon feedbacks. In a peat plateau complex in Tavvavuoma, northern Sweden, ground temperatures and snow depth have been monitored in six different landscape units: on a peat plateau, in a depression within a peat plateau, along a peat plateau edge (close to a thermokarst lake), at a thermokarst lake shoreline, in a thermokarst lake and in a fen. Permafrost is present in all three peat plateau landscape units, and mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) in the central parts of the peat plateau is -0.3 degrees C at 2 m depth. In the three low-lying wetter or saturated landscape units (along the thermokarst lake shoreline, in the lake and the fen) taliks are present and MAGT at 1 m depth is 1.0-2.7 degrees C. Topographical differences between the elevated and low-lying units affect both local snow depth and soil moisture, and are important for ground thermal patterns in this landscape. Permafrost exists in landscape units with a shallow mean December-April snow depth (<20 cm) whereas snow depths >40 cm mostly result in absence of permafrost.
Because climate change can affect the carbon balance and hydrology in permafrost peatlands, a better understanding of their sensitivity to changes in temperature and precipitation is needed. In Tavvavuoma, northernmost Sweden, meteorological parameters and ground thermal properties have been monitored in a peat plateau from 2006 to 2013. During this time period, the air temperature record shows no warming trend, and the late-season thaw depth has been relatively stable at around 55-60cm. Meanwhile, the mean annual ground temperature at 1m depth has increased by 0.06 degrees C/yr and at 2-5m depth the permafrost is currently warmer than -0.3 degrees C. Statistical analyses suggest that interannual changes in thaw depth and ground temperatures are affected by different meteorological factors. Summer air temperatures and annual thawing degree-days control thaw depth (p0.05), whereas winter precipitation/snow depth affects ground temperatures (p0.1). The permafrost in this peat plateau is likely relict and not in equilibrium with current climatic conditions. Since the early 20(th) century, there has been a regional increase in air temperature and snow depth. If the ongoing permafrost warming in Tavvavuoma is a result of these long-term trends, short-term variability in meteorological parameters can still have an impact on the rate of permafrost degradation, but unless pronounced climate cooling occurs, thawing of the peat plateau is inevitable.
High-resolution satellite remote sensing analysis (n=637 lakes) and field measurements (n=29 lakes) of two peat plateau areas in northeast European Russia were carried out to investigate lake morphology, map shoreline erosion indicators and assess possible orientation patterns in lake and shore morphology. The study includes the first detailed characterisation of the shape and size of thermokarst lakes in organic terrain. The area covered by lakes is 7.0 per cent and 13.6 per cent, and median lake size is 184m2 and 265m2, respectively, for the two study areas. In both areas, most lakes have a similar northwest to southeast orientation, and shores most commonly face northeast or southwest. The shores are generally steeper and have more cracks and lake depths are greater along shores facing northeast or southeast, and along the shorelines of larger lakes. Shores with a peat substrate are more heterogeneous than those with a mineral substrate in terms of steepness, cracks and water depths. Since the lakes are generally small, the shoreline/area ratio is high and a large part of the peat plateau areas can potentially be affected by shoreline erosion.