Berry, H. Bay, Whalen, Dustin and Lim, Michael (2021) Long-term ice-rich permafrost coast sensitivity to air temperatures and storm influence: lessons from Pullen Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Arctic Science, 7 (4). pp. 723-745. ISSN 2368-7460
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Abstract
Response of erosive mechanisms to climate change is of mounting concern on Beaufort Sea coasts, which experience some of the highest erosion rates in the Arctic. Collapse of intact permafrost blocks and slumping within sprawling retrogressive thaw complexes are two predominant mechanisms that manifest as cliff retreat in this region. Using aerial imagery and ground survey data from Pullen Island, Northwest Territories., Canada, from 13 time points between 1947 and 2018, we observe increasing mean retreat rates from 0 ± 4.8 m a−1 in 1947 to 12 ± 0.3 m a−1 in 2018. Mean summer air temperature was positively correlated with cliff retreat over each time step via block failure (r2 = 0.08; p = 0.5) and slumping (r2 = 0.41; p = 0.05), as was mean storm duration with cliff retreat via block failure (r2 = 0.84; p = 0.0002) and slumping (r2 = 0.34; p = 0.08). These data indicate that air temperature has a greater impact in slump-dominated areas, whereas storm duration has greater control in areas of block failure. Increasingly, heterogeneous cliff retreat rates are likely resulting from different magnitudes of response to climate trends depending on mechanism, and on geomorphological variations that prescribe occurrences of retrogressive thaw slumps.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Funding information: Funding and support for this project was provided by Natural Resources Canada through the Climate Change Geoscience Program and Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP). Additional funding was provided by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) through the Beaufort Sea Regional Strategic Environment and Research Assessment (BRSEA). In addition, this work was made possible through the Natural Environment and Research Council (NERC) sponsored UK-Canada Arctic bursary program. We are grateful to the field crews, in particular Paul Fraser, Angus Robertson, Roger Macleod from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), and Andrew Clark from the University of Calgary for acquiring the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data used in this study. We would also like to acknowledge the Aurora Research Institute (ARI), the Inuvialuit Game Council, and the communities and Hunters and Trappers Committees of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk for their continued support. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | coastal erosion, permafrost, slope instability, arctic climate change. |
| Subjects: | F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
| Department: | Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mechanical and Construction Engineering |
| Depositing User: | John Coen |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Nov 2020 14:04 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Dec 2021 08:45 |
| URI: | http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/44672 |
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