Massive ground ice in the western Canadian Arctic: distribution, origin, age and role in past, present and future landscape change

在过去的几十年里，作为对世纪气候变化的回应，北极地区的永久冻土温度已经上升。富冰的冰缘环境，永久冻土的上部可能有70-90%的体积是水，本质上是不稳定的，随着景观适应气候变化，可能会发生重大的地貌变化。在这些地区，融化滑塌的发展是富冰永冻土退化的最引人注目的表现之一。融化滑坡已经对陆地和水生生态系统造成了影响，并正在成为当地北极社区的主要关切。预计融化滑塌的数量和规模的增加将产生重大的水文地貌后果。该建议分为一系列相互关联的项目：1）调查融化滑塌的分布、增长和稳定速率; 2）通过开发新的和扩大现有的冰中封闭气体测量技术，确定富冰永久冻土的起源、年龄和可居住性; 3）量化融化滑塌对水文地貌的影响--“退化的大块地面冰”的出现; 4）确定冰中封闭气体的浓度; 5）确定冰中封闭气体浓度; 6）确定冰中封闭气体浓度; 7）确定冰中封闭气体浓度; 8）确定冰中封闭气体浓度; 9）确定冰中封闭气体浓度; 10）确定冰中封闭气体浓度。总的来说，这项研究计划将涉及11个高素质的人员在实地为基础的多学科冰缘研究的培训。拟议的研究计划的结果将大大增加我们对加拿大北极西部大量地面冰的分布，特征和年龄的了解。这些信息对于以下方面至关重要：1）确定富冰永冻土、区域更新世冰川界限和地表地质之间的关系; 2）评估富冰永冻土对北极上一次比当前条件温暖的响应; 3）了解热岩溶过程的潜在驱动因素，特别是与融化滑塌的增长和稳定有关的驱动因素; 4）评估融化滑塌对景观水文地貌的影响; 5）预测富冰冻土景观对未来气候变化的区域水文地貌响应。

Over the last few decades, permafrost temperatures have increased across the Arctic in response to the 20th century climate change. Ice-rich periglacial environments, where the upper part of permafrost may be 70-90% water by volume, are inherently unstable and may undergo substantial geomorphic modification as landscapes adjust to changing climate. In these regions, the development of thaw slumps is one of the most dramatic manifestations of degradation of ice-rich permafrost. The thaw slumps are already causing impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and are becoming a major concern for local Arctic communities. It is expected that the increasing number and size of thaw slumps will have major hydrogeomorphic consequences. This proposal is divided into a series of interrelated projects: 1) Investigating the distribution, growth and stabilization rates of thaw slumps; 2) Determining origin, age and habitability of ice-rich permafrost by developing new and expanding current techniques for occluded gases measurements in ice; 3) Quantify the impacts of thaw slumps on hydrogeomorphology - the emergence of the "degrading massive ground ice fluvial regime. Overall, this research program will involve the training of 11 highly qualified personnel in field-based multi-disciplinary periglacial studies. The results of the proposed research program will greatly increase our knowledge about the distribution, characteristics and age of massive ground ice in western Arctic Canada. This information is essential for: 1) determining the relation between ice-rich permafrost, regional Pleistocene glacial limits and surface geology; 2) assessing the response of ice-rich permafrost to the last time that the Arctic was warmer than current conditions; 3) understanding the potential drivers of thermokarst processes, in particular in relation to growth and stabilization of thaw slumps; 4) assessing the hydrogeomorphic impacts of thaw slumps in the landscape; and 5) predicting regional hydrogeomorphic responses of ice-rich permafrost landscape to future climate change.