Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5779879 | Earth and Planetary Science Letters | 2017 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Sea level has risen globally since the late Pleistocene, resulting in permafrost-bearing coastal zones in the Arctic being submerged and subjected to temperature induced degradation. Knowing the extent of permafrost and how it changes over time is important for climate change predictions and for planning engineering activities in the Arctic environment. We developed a controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) method to obtain information on the depth, thickness, and lateral extent of marine permafrost. To operate in shallow water we used a surface towed electric dipole-dipole CSEM system suitable for deployment from small boats. This system was used to map permafrost on the Arctic shelf offshore Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Our results show significant lateral variability in the presence of permafrost, with the thickest layers associated with a large river outflow where freshwater influx seems to have a preserving effect on relict subsea permafrost.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Earth and Planetary Sciences (General)
Authors
Dallas Sherman, Peter Kannberg, Steven Constable,