Permafrost Erosion Along the Beaufort Sea Coast

Lewellen, Robert I

doi:10.21236/ad0711344

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…A large number of reports have been written on coastal erosion and storm surges, particularly important because of inundation of the Naval facilities on the Barrow spit during the 1963 storm (Hume, 1964;Hume and Schalk, 1967;Lewellen, 1970Lewellen, , 1973Wiseman and others, 1973;Hartz, 1978a, b;Hopkins and Hartz, 1978). Sediment transport by longshore currents moving northward along the Chukchi Sea coast toward Point Barrow has been of interest in studies of coastal erosion and of the effects of mining beach gravel to determine the rate of resupply of material (Hume andSchalk, 1963, 1967).…”

Section: Previous Investigationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Average values of coastal retreat have been determined by comparison of 1949 aerial photographs and those taken later (Lewellen, 1970;. Although the erosion of the seabluffs along the Chukchi coast was about 3 m during the 1963 storm, the average coastal retreat in this area is 0 to 2 m, based on comparison of photographs.…”

Section: Floods and Storm Surgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eventually the removal of material at water level extends horizontally beneath the bluff so far that the weight of the overhanging frozen material collapses the bank, commonly along an ice wedge crack. The process has been described by , and by Lewellen (1965Lewellen ( , 1970Lewellen ( , 1972aLewellen ( , 1977a, who estimated that the erosion rate along the Beaufort Sea coast is 2-6 m/yr at Point Barrow, less than 1 m/yr in Elson Lagoon west of Tekegakrok Point, where protected by a bar from the point north-northwestward to Barrow spit; 2-6 m/yr eastward from Tekegakrok Point to near Cape Simpson airstrip, where it is slightly greater than 6 m/yr. Points and promotories are subject to even more rapid erosion, e.g., the 10 m/yr recorded on Ross Point (Lewellen, 1972a).…”

Section: Floods and Storm Surgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Engineering-geologic maps of northern Alaska, Barrow quadrangle

Williams¹,

Carter²

1984

Open-File Report

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Section: Previous Investigationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Floods and Storm Surgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Floods and Storm Surgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Engineering-geologic maps of northern Alaska, Barrow quadrangle

Williams¹,

Carter²

1984

Open-File Report

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“…Variation in thermokarst lake expansion is largely related to lake surface area, bluff height along lake margins, and bathymetry (Jones et al , ). Thermokarst‐lake expansion has been traditionally recognized by changes in open water areas of lakes through benchmark measurements on the ground or with optical remote sensing (Lewellen, ; Jorgenson and Shur, ; Arp et al , ; Jones et al , ). This study focuses on a previously understudied mode of thermokarst lake expansion, which is the degradation of permafrost along lake margins covered by floating mat vegetation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expansion rate and geometry of floating vegetation mats on the margins of thermokarst lakes, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA

Parsekian

Jones

et al. 2011

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Investigations on the northern Seward Peninsula in Alaska identified zones of recent (<50years) permafrost collapse that led to the formation of floating vegetation mats along thermokarst lake margins. The occurrence of floating vegetation mat features indicates rapid degradation of near-surface permafrost and lake expansion. This paper reports on the recent expansion of these collapse features and their geometry is determined using geophysical and remote sensing measurements. The vegetation mats were observed to have an average thickness of 0.57m and petrophysical modeling indicated that gas content of 1.5-5% enabled floatation above the lake surface. Furthermore, geophysical investigation provides evidence that the mats form by thaw and subsidence of the underlying permafrost rather than terrestrialization. The temperature of the water below a vegetation mat was observed to remain above freezing late in the winter. Analysis of satellite and aerial imagery indicates that these features have expanded at maximum rates of 1-2myr -1 over a 56year period. Including the spatial coverage of floating 'thermokarst mats' increases estimates of lake area by as much as 4% in some lakes.

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“…For up to nine months of the year sea ice is frozen fast to the coast, essentially halting coastal erosion, near-shore sediment transport, and coastal modification. During the remainder of the year the ground surface and near-shore sea ice thaw, allowing mass wasting and slumping of thawed and frozen material along coastal cliffs, wave attack of exposed sections, pronounced coastal sedimentation (Hume and Schalk 1967), and rapid shoreline retreat (MacCarthy 1953;Lewellen 1970).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Classification and Relief Characteristics of Northern Alaska's Coastal Zone

Hartwell¹

1973

ARCTIC

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Four main genetic coastal types are proposed to classify the shoreline of northern Alaska bordering the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, which extends for more than 2,150 km. from Cape Thompson eastward to the Canadian border: Land erosion-coast marked by subaerial erosion of terrestrially shaped land forms and partly drowned by rise in sea level (8.9 per cent of coastline); River deposition-coast formed by fluvial deposition (19.9 per cent); Wave erosioncoast shaped primarily by marine agencies and exposed to the open ocean, being marked by coastal retreat and negligible nearshore deposition (37.5 per cent); Marine depositionsimilar to preceding except nearshore sediment deposition is pronounced (33.7 per cent). Four categories of coastal relief or sea cliff height associated with these coastal types are proposed: Low reliefless than about 2 m.; Moderafe reliefabout 2-5 m.; High reliefabout 5-8 m.; Very high reliefgreater than about 8 m. About 1,590 km. or 74 per cent of the coast has relief of 5 m. or less whereas mean relief or scarp height for the entire coast is about 4 m. In gzneral mean scarp heights decrease to the east along the coastal plain.

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Permafrost Erosion Along the Beaufort Sea Coast

Cited by 13 publications

References 3 publications

Engineering-geologic maps of northern Alaska, Barrow quadrangle

Engineering-geologic maps of northern Alaska, Barrow quadrangle

Expansion rate and geometry of floating vegetation mats on the margins of thermokarst lakes, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA

Classification and Relief Characteristics of Northern Alaska's Coastal Zone

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