IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/perpro/v24y2013i2p108-119.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Advances in Thermokarst Research

Author

Listed:
  • S. V. Kokelj
  • M. T. Jorgenson

Abstract

The term thermokarst describes the processes and landforms that involve collapse of the land surface as a result of the melting of ground ice. We review the literature that has contributed to our understanding of patterns, processes and feedbacks, and the environmental consequences of thermokarst, focusing on hillslope, thaw lake and wetland processes. Advances in remote sensing techniques, and their application in a broad suite of change detection studies, indicate recent increases in the rates and magnitude of thermokarst including retrogressive thaw slumping, lake expansion and the transformation of frozen peatlands to collapsed wetlands. Field‐based studies and modelling have enhanced the knowledge of processes and feedbacks associated with warming permafrost, changes in talik geometry and accelerated thaw slump activity, and thaw lake expansion. Hydrological processes can strongly influence the rates of thaw lake and gully development, and the degradation of frozen peatlands. Field studies and calibrated modelling efforts that investigate the drivers of thermokarst and test conceptual ideas of landscape evolution will be critical to further advance the prediction of landscape and ecosystem change. Thermokarst research provides an important context for studying the environmental implications of permafrost degradation. Hillslope thermokarst can alter the water quality of lakes and streams with implications for aquatic ecosystems. Investigation of the interactions between thermokarst and hydrologic and ecological processes has improved knowledge of the feedbacks that accelerate change or lead to stabilisation in terrestrial and thaw lake environments. Finally, the influence of permafrost thaw on soil carbon dynamics will be an important focus of thermokarst research because of feedbacks with the global climate system. Copyright © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 2013.

Suggested Citation

  • S. V. Kokelj & M. T. Jorgenson, 2013. "Advances in Thermokarst Research," Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(2), pages 108-119, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:perpro:v:24:y:2013:i:2:p:108-119
    DOI: 10.1002/ppp.1779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1779
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ppp.1779?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wenbing Yu & Fenglei Han & Weibo Liu & Stuart A. Harris, 2016. "Geohazards and thermal regime analysis of oil pipeline along the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau Engineering Corridor," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(1), pages 193-209, August.
    2. Roman Desyatkin & Matrena Okoneshnikova & Alexandra Ivanova & Maya Nikolaeva & Nikolay Filippov & Alexey Desyatkin, 2022. "Dynamics of Vegetation and Soil Cover of Pyrogenically Disturbed Areas of the Northern Taiga under Conditions of Thermokarst Development and Climate Warming," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Guibiao Yang & Zhihu Zheng & Benjamin W. Abbott & David Olefeldt & Christian Knoblauch & Yutong Song & Luyao Kang & Shuqi Qin & Yunfeng Peng & Yuanhe Yang, 2023. "Characteristics of methane emissions from alpine thermokarst lakes on the Tibetan Plateau," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:perpro:v:24:y:2013:i:2:p:108-119. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1530 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.