Active-Layer Thickness Measurements Using a Handheld Penetrometer at Boreal and Tundra Sites in Eastern Siberia

Large rivers are important links between continents and oceans for material flows that have a global impact on marine biogeochemistry. Processes in the catchment areas of large rivers can affect the flow of solutes into the global ocean. The goal was to determine how the concentration of individual components of nutrients in the rivers of Eastern Siberia changes depending on the active layer thickness of the permafrost (ALT) and to elucidate whether the ALT is a factor that can control nutrient flux to the Arctic Ocean. The method of canonical correlation analysis was applied to the data on the concentration of nutrients in the 12 largest rivers of Eastern Siberia and the active layer thickness in their catchments. We found that the concentration of nutrients such as ammonium ion (NH4) and total phosphorus (Ptotal) in river waters is higher in catchments with a deeper active layer. The waters of the mountain rivers in the south of the region (the Chara and Vitim rivers) are the richest in nutrients. Arctic rivers such as the Indigirka and Anabar were low in nutrients. The permeability of soils also affects the discharge of nutrients into rivers with surface runoff. We conclude that in the future, in the context of global climatic changes and the projected deepening of the active layer throughout the permafrost zone of the Northern Hemisphere, an increase in the supply of nutrients to the Arctic Ocean is possible.

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Active layer thickness dynamics in the tundra permafrost-affected soils: a calm site study, the European North of Russia.

Earth`s Cryosphere ◽

10.21782/ec1560-7496-2017-6(30-38) ◽

2017 ◽

Keyword(s):

Layer Thickness ◽

Active Layer ◽

Active Layer Thickness ◽

European North

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Modeled (1990–2100) variations in active‐layer thickness and ice‐wedge activity near Salluit, Nunavik (Canada)

Permafrost and Periglacial Processes ◽

10.1002/ppp.2109 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Gagnon ◽

Michel Allard

Keyword(s):

Layer Thickness ◽

Active Layer ◽

Active Layer Thickness ◽

Ice Wedge

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Permafrost temperature and active-layer thickness of Yakutia with 0.5-degree spatial resolution for model evaluation

Earth System Science Data ◽

10.5194/essd-5-305-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 305-310 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

C. Beer ◽

A. N. Fedorov ◽

Y. Torgovkin

Keyword(s):

Layer Thickness ◽

Spatial Resolution ◽

Active Layer ◽

Land Surface ◽

Grid Cell ◽

Active Layer Thickness ◽

East Siberia ◽

Permafrost Temperature ◽

Surface Models ◽

The Mean

Abstract. Based on the map of landscapes and permafrost conditions in Yakutia (Merzlotno-landshaftnaya karta Yakutskoi0 ASSR, Gosgeodeziya SSSR, 1991), rasterized maps of permafrost temperature and active-layer thickness of Yakutia, East Siberia were derived. The mean and standard deviation at 0.5-degree grid cell size are estimated by assigning a probability density function at 0.001-degree spatial resolution. The gridded datasets can be accessed at the PANGAEA repository (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.808240). Spatial pattern of both variables are dominated by a climatic gradient from north to south, and by mountains and the soil type distribution. Uncertainties are highest in mountains and in the sporadic permafrost zone in the south. The maps are best suited as a benchmark for land surface models which include a permafrost module.

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