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Yedoma landscape at the western Laptev Sea coastal plain in front of the Pronchishchev Ridge characterized by Yedoma hills, thermokarst basins, and numerous small-branched thermoerosional valley systems and larger river valleys: (a) satellite image Landsat-7 ETM þ and (b) digital elevation model (adapted from Grosse et al., 2006).
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Syngenetically frozen deposits that are fine-grained and ice-rich are widely distributed in the lowlands of northeastern Siberia, Alaska, and northwestern Canada. These late Pleistocene sediments are specific to this region summarized as Beringia, and have been termed ‘Ice Complex’ or ‘Yedoma’ in Siberia, and ‘muck’ in North America. Silt is their...
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... deposits are widely distributed across Beringia (Figure 1). In eastern Siberia, their presence in lowlands is reflected in the modern distribution of thermokarst lakes developed on ice-rich permafrost ( Figure 3). Thermokarst de- pressions with lakes and thermoerosional valleys shape the modern lowland relief and dissect remnants of late Pleistocene accumulation plains into Yedoma hills and uplands. ...
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Citations
... The proportions of mineral-bound OC in Yedoma sediments [53,92,93] are highly variable between sites. It can be argued that this results from the polygenetic origin of Yedoma deposits, with seasonally differentiated deposition mechanisms controlled by local environmental conditions, including the contribution from local fluvial, colluvial, and alluvial sediments [77,96,97]. ...
Organic carbon (OC) in permafrost interacts with the mineral fraction of soil and sediments, representing < 1% to ~80% of the total OC pool. Quantifying the nature and controls of mineral-OC interactions is therefore crucial for realistic assessments of permafrost-carbon-climate feedbacks, especially in ice-rich regions facing rapid thaw and the development of thermo-erosion landforms. Here, we analyzed sediment samples from the Batagay megaslump in East Siberia, and we present total element concentrations , mineralogy, and mineral-OC interactions in its different stratigraphic units. Our findings indicate that up to 34 ± 8% of the OC pool interacts with mineral surfaces or elements. Interglacial deposits exhibit enhanced OC-mineral interactions, where OC has undergone greater microbial transformation and has likely low degradability. We provide a first-order estimate of ~12,000 tons of OC mobilized annually downslope of the headwall (i.e., the approximate mass of 30 large aircrafts), with a maximum of 38% interacting with OC via complexation with metals or associations to poorly crystalline iron oxides. These data imply that over one-third of the OC exposed by the slump is not readily available for mineralization, potentially leading to prolonged OC residence time in soil and sediments under stable physicochemical conditions.
... An example of ice-rich permafrost, the Yedoma Ice Complex, is found in eastern Siberia. In particular, the area between the Lena and Aldan Rivers (Fig. 1) is characterized by abundant ground ice with a volumetric ice content above 60% (Schirrmeister et al. 2013;Shestakova et al. 2021). Recent climate changes have promoted permafrost degradation in the interfluve (Iijima et al. 2014), and thermokarst-induced polygonal subsidence patterns, hereafter referred to as polygons, have started to appear in residential areas (Crate et al. 2017). ...
Thermokarst development is a topographic change in the landscape that is commonly associated with permafrost degradation in ice-rich permafrost regions. The Lena-Aldan interfluvial area in Central Yakutia in eastern Siberia has undergone extensive thermokarst development in the last three decades, particularly in the vicinity of settlements. Despite the negative effects of thermokarst development on the inhabitants of these settlements, no quantitative observation methods have been developed to investigate the surface displacement due to thermokarst development over entire towns. This study utilized interferometric synthetic aperture radar to reveal ground-surface displacement associated with thermokarst near the settlements of selected towns. The findings showed that significant subsidence was detected in disturbed areas (farming and abundant arable land) near the towns. The magnitude of subsidence in the Tyungyulyu and Mayya areas was less than that in Churapcha and Amga. Polygon density in a defined area in each town was examined using high-resolution optical images. The polygon density in Churapcha was considerably lower than that in Mayya, whereas polygonal texture in some areas in Tyungyulyu and Amga was unclear. Spatial frequency analysis using satellite optical images showed clear differences in averaged spectrum models between well-developed and less-developed polygons, which may reflect trough depths and density of vegetation between polygons. Satellite-based subsidence maps and statistics describing polygon development may be useful for evaluating both initial and subsequent stages of thermokarst development.
... Yedoma IC is defined as fine-grained, perennially frozen, organic-bearing ice-rich sediment which typically creates positive relief forms penetrated by syngenetic ice wedges (Veremeeva and Glushkova, 2016;Strauss et al., 2021). The silt in Yedoma IC, was likely deposited mainly by aeolian processes, forming a cold-climate loess deposit, as reviewed by Murton et al. (2015); alternative processes of deposition are summarized by Schirrmeister et al. (2013). The Yedoma IC formed between ~60 and 12 kyr BP (MIS 4-2), ceasing because of lateglacial warming (Murton et al., 2015;Schirrmeister et al., 2017). ...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental factors that influence the orientation of lakes and basins in continuous permafrost of the Yana–Indigirka Lowland, NE Siberia. In this area, 24,782 lakes each with an area of >10,000 m2 were digitized from Google Earth satellite imagery, and four categories of lakes and drained lake basins were identified in two sub-study areas from Sentinel 2 imagery. Regionally, the lakes show a single modal orientation east–west to ESE–WNW, which is broadly parallel to the prevailing wind from 80 to 90° recorded at the nearest meteorological stations during June–October, when the lakes are likely to have been partially or completely ice-free and therefore exposed to wave-induced currents. Regression analysis suggests that lake orientation tends to be strongest in flatter terrain (<1°) that is not formed in silt- and ice-rich yedoma deposits. Locally, however, two sub-study areas show two modes of almost equal size, with lakes and basins aligned ESE–WNW or NNE–SSW, and thus approximately either parallel to or perpendicular to prevailing winds. Local deviation from the ESE–WNW lake alignment in the sub-study areas is attributed to a sandy substrate and topographic control. Sandy substrates appear to favour perpendicular orientations, whereas elongate depressions aligned broadly east–west, and supporting meandering rivers, favour parallel orientations. Overall, therefore, the impact of prevailing summer wind direction on lake and basin orientation is moderated by environmental factors of topography and substrate.
... Ice-rich terrain, especially when populated by massive tabular ice, is diagnostic of relatively temperate boundary conditions at or near the surface having occurred iteratively/episodically (over time), intensely but perhaps less frequently, or a combination of the two options (e.g. Czudek & Demek, 1970;Grosse et al., 2007;Schirrmeister et al., 2013). ...
... MacKay, 1971;MacKay & Dallimore, 1992;Murton, 2001;Rampton, 1988;Soare et al., 2011;Vasil'chuk & Murton, 2016) and in the eastern Russian arctic (e.g. Grosse et al., 2007;Schirrmeister et al., 2013;Solomatin & Belova, 2012;Vasil'chuk & Murton, 2016). ...
... On Earth, being able to differentiate samples of excess (periglacially segregated) ice from buried glacial ice is of quintessential importance in evaluating the temperature boundaries experienced by coldclimate regimes during the Quaternary Period in, for example, the coastal plains of northern Canada (French & Harry, 1990;MacKay, 1971;Murton et al., 2004;Rampton, 1991) and Russia (Schirrmeister et al., 2013;Solomatin & Belova, 2012;Wetterich et al., 2004). Typically, evaluations are multifaceted, comprising GPR, ice geochemistry, MRI, borehole data, landscape-scale contextualization of ice, numerical modelling, conformable topography, etc. ...
... Accumulation of organic material as well as sedimentation in alluvial, eolian or hillslope settings can lead to a rise in the permafrost table and hence a growth in segregated ice (Guodong, 1983;French and Shur, 2010). In this context, segregated ice can also form together with syngenetic ice wedge growth, forming ice lenses within polygonal permafrost as observed in Yedoma deposits (Schirrmeister et al., 2013). ...
The ground ice content in cold environments influences the permafrost thermal regime and the thaw trajectories in a warming climate, especially for soils containing excess ice. Despite their importance, the amount and distribution of ground ice are often unknown due to lacking field observations. Hence, modeling the thawing of ice-rich permafrost soils and associated thermokarst is challenging as ground ice content has to be prescribed in the model setup. In this study, we present a model scheme, capable of simulating segregated ice formation during a model spinup together with associated ground heave. It provides the option to add a constant sedimentation rate throughout the simulation. Besides ice segregation, it can represent thaw consolidation processes and ground subsidence under a warming climate. The computation is based on soil mechanical processes, soil hydrology by the Richards equation and soil freezing characteristics. The code is implemented in the CryoGrid community model (version 1.0), a modular land surface model for simulations of the ground thermal regime.
The simulation of ice segregation and thaw consolidation with the new model scheme allows us to analyze the evolution of ground ice content in both space and time. To do so, we use climate data from two contrasting permafrost sites to run the simulations. Several influencing factors are identified, which control the formation and thaw of segregated ice. (i) Model results show that high temperature gradients in the soil as well as moist conditions support the formation of segregated ice. (ii) We find that ice segregation increases in fine-grained soils and that especially organic-rich sediments enhance the process. (iii) Applying external loads suppresses ice segregation and speeds up thaw consolidation. (iv) Sedimentation leads to a rise of the ground surface and the formation of an ice-enriched layer whose thickness increases with sedimentation time.
We conclude that the new model scheme is a step forward to improve the description of ground ice distributions in permafrost models and can contribute towards the understanding of ice segregation and thaw consolidation in permafrost environments under changing climatic conditions.
... The field site is situated within the largest and most continuous permafrost region of the planet (Strauss et al. 2017) which contains the largest existing yedoma soil deposits. Yedoma is a Pleistocene-aged soil of organic-rich loess with an average soil-OC content of 2-4 wt%, it contains 50-90% of ground ice and is up to 50 m thick and especially common to the tundra of Far East Siberia (Walter et al. 2006;Jones et al. 2011;Schirrmeister et al. 2013;Murton et al. 2017;Windirsch et al. 2020). ...
Thermokarst lakes are important conduits for organic carbon sequestration, soil organic matter (soil-OM) decomposition and release of atmospheric greenhouse gases in the Arctic. They can be classified as either floating-ice lakes, which sustain a zone of unfrozen sediment (talik) at the lakebed year-round, or as bedfast-ice lakes, which freeze all the way to the lakebed in winter. Another key characteristic of thermokarst lakes are their eroding shorelines, depending on the surrounding landscape, they can play a major role in supplying the lakebeds with sediment and OM. These differences in winter ice regime and eroding shorelines are key factors which determine the quantity and quality of OM in thermokarst lake sediments. We used an array of physical, geochemical, and microbiological tools to identify the differences in the environmental conditions, sedimentary characteristics, carbon stocks and microbial community compositions in the sediments of a bedfast-ice and a floating-ice lake in Far East Siberia with different eroding shorelines. Our data show strong differences across most of the measured parameters between the two lakes. For example, the floating-ice lake contains considerably lower amounts of sediment organic matter and dissolved organic carbon, both of which also appear to be more degraded in comparison to the bedfast-ice lake, based on their stable carbon isotope composition (δ ¹³ C). We also document clear differences in the microbial community composition, for both archaea and bacteria. We identified the lake water depth (bedfast-ice vs. floating-ice) and shoreline erosion to be the two most likely main drivers of the sedimentary, microbial and biogeochemical diversity in thermokarst lakes. With ongoing climate warming, it is likely that an increasing number of lakes will shift from a bedfast- to a floating-ice state, and that increasing levels of shoreline erosion will supply the lakes with sediments. Yet, still little is known about the physical, biogeochemical and microbial differences in the sediments of these lake types and how different eroding shorelines impact these lake systems.
... One of today's burning issues is the generation of hydrocarbon waste [4][5][6], particularly gases [7], which is a major cause of global warming [8]. There are many sources of hydrocarbon gas emissions into the atmosphere [9][10][11]: the processing or incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, including flue gas formation from various sources; the thawing of organic material residues; as well as others. Approximately 2 million tonnes of unburned methane are released into the atmosphere each year, according to estimates [12,13]. ...
One of the most effective technologies for recycling organic waste is its thermal destruction by pyrolysis methods to produce valuable products such as hydrogen and mixtures containing hydrogen. Increasing the thermal power of the flow helps to reduce the formation of secondary reactions, making the non-condensable hydrocarbon gas in the pyrolysis process cleaner, which simplifies further technology for the production of hydrogen and hydrogen-containing mixtures. In addition, the economic viability of pyrolysis depends on the energy costs required to decompose the organic feedstock. Using passive intensifiers in the form of discrete rough surfaces in heat exchanging channels is a widely used method of increasing heat transfer. This paper presents the results of numerical and experimental studies of heat transfer and hydraulic resistance in a channel with and without hemispherical protrusions applied to the heat transfer surface. The investigations were carried out for a reactor channel 150 mm long and 31 mm in diameter, with a constant pitch of the protrusions along the channels of 20 mm and protrusion heights h of 1 to 4 mm for 419 ≤ Re ≤ 2795. Compared to a smooth channel, a channel with protrusions increases heat transfer by an average of 2.23 times. By comparing the heat exchange parameters and the hydraulic resistance of the heat exchange channels, it was determined that h = 2 mm and 838 < Re < 1223 is the combination of parameters providing the best energetic mode of reactor operation. In general, an increase in h and coolant flow rate resulted in an uneven increase in heat transfer intensity. However, as h increases, the dead zone effect behind the protrusions increases and the rough channel working area decreases. Furthermore, increasing Re > 1223 is not advisable due to the increased cost of maintaining high coolant velocity and the reduced heat transfer capacity of the channel.
... The Laptev Sea coasts on the north of Yakutia are located within an area of continuous permafrost, with a mean annual ground temperature below −7 • C [13]. Ice-rich frozen Quaternary deposits, which contain significant amounts of organic matter and vast ice wedges, the so-called Yedoma Ice Complex [14], are patterned widespread [15,16] (Figure 1). The former plains comprising the Yedoma Ice Complex left remnants on its surfaces that have been eroded by thermal denudation, thermal erosion and thermokarst. ...
... The upper part of the section of the coastal lowlands is a thick (up to 50-60 m) cover of frozen Late Pleistocene-Holocene sediments. Among the Quaternary sediments is the forementioned "Ice Complex", which are syngenetically frozen Late Pleistocene sediments up to several tens of meters thick, predominantly of a silty composition with a high organic content, including vast ice wedges [14,45,46]. These sediments contain a large number of remains of the mammoth fauna complex. ...
The Laptev Sea coast has a unique high-latitude and dynamic landscape. The presence of low-temperature permafrost (below −7 • C) and its high ice content (up to 90%) determine a wide array of permafrost landforms and features. Under the actions of thermal abrasion and thermal denudation, high rates of coastal retreat are evident within this region. Local differences in the geological structure and sea hydrodynamic conditions determine the diversity of this sea coast's types. In this review, we present the results of a morphodynamic classification and segmentation of the Laptev Sea coast. The integrated approach used in the classification took into account the leading relief-forming processes that act upon this coastal zone. The research scale of 1:100,000 made it possible to identify and characterize the morphologies of the coast and their spatial distributions within the study area. The presented original classification can be considered to be universal for the eastern Arctic seas of Eurasia; it may be used as a basis for further scientific and applied research.
... Organic matter in clay organomineral aggregates is part of the passive pool of organic matter in the soil and has a higher turnover time in the environment as a result of a low degree of biodegradation [36]. The development of a database on the qualitative composition of SOM in cryogenic soils is an important task for researchers, as it will allow a more accurate assessment of transformation processes in modern soils and Pleistocene sediments of the Yedoma [37]. ...
The soils of cold regions store up to 60% of all organic carbon on the planet. As a result of climate change, this organic matter can be biodegraded by microorganisms and thereby make an additional contribution to carbon balance. Nowadays, there are fragmentary data on organic C stocks in high-latitude soils and single works on the analysis of the quality of buried organic matter. This paper presents the first data on the molecular weight distributions of humic acids (HAs) extracted from soils and sediments in Yedoma. Molecular weight distributions of HAs preparations were obtained on an AKTAbasic 10 UPS chromatographic system (Amersham Biosciences, Sweden) using a SuperdexTM 200 10/300 GL column (with cross-linked dextran gel, fractionation range for globular proteins 10–600 kDa). As a result of the study, it was found that the buried soil horizons are characterized by the highest content of low molecular weight fraction (with molecular mass (Mr) 1.4–1.9 kDa and molar fraction in the range of 54.3–67.1%). The high molecular weight fraction is concentrated mainly in the superficial horizons and decreases with depth (with Mr 299–346 kDa and molar fraction in the range of 3.4–9.8%). In the Yedoma sediments, the maximum content of the medium-molecular fraction is observed (with Mr 24.6 kDa and 39.6% of the molar fraction), which may indicate a low rate of organic matter transformation in the permafrost. The data obtained serve as a database of analysis in terms of modeling the global carbon cycle in the cold regions of the planet.
... The study area is localized within the boreal forest (taiga) zone, with the vegetation being dominated by trees such as larches (Larix gmelinii and Larix cajanderi) and pines (Pinus sylvestris), as visible in Figure 1c,d. Permafrost in this region is continuous and thick (>400 m deep) [57,58], and the upper 30-50 m (Pleistocene-age fluvial and aeolian sediments) can be extremely rich in ground ice (50-90% by volume) [51]. The ALD typically reaches 0.5 to 2.0 m, depending on landscape factors that include vegetation cover type, general topography, soil type, and subsurface water content [59]. ...
Arctic regions are highly impacted by the global temperature rising and its consequences and influences on the thermo-hydro processes and their feedbacks. Theses processes are especially not very well understood in the context of river–permafrost interactions and permafrost degradation. This paper focuses on the thermal characterization of a river–valley system in a continuous permafrost area (Syrdakh, Yakutia, Eastern Siberia) that is subject to intense thawing, with major consequences on water resources and quality. We investigated this Yakutian area through two transects crossing the river using classical tools such as in–situ temperature measurements, direct active layer thickness estimations, unscrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery, heat transfer numerical experiments, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). Of these two transects, one was closely investigated with a long-term temperature time series from 2012 to 2018, while both of them were surveyed by geophysical and UAV data acquisition in 2017 and 2018. Thermodynamical numerical simulations were run based on the long-term temperature series and are in agreement with river thermal influence on permafrost and active layer extensions retrieved from GPR and ERT profiles. An electrical resistivity-temperature relationship highlights the predominant role of water in such a complicated system and paves the way to coupled thermo-hydro-geophysical modeling for understanding permafrost–river system evolution.
