Preconditioning of mountain permafrost towards degradation detected by electrical resistivity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15549200 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christian Hauck (0000-0003-4488-6475, University of Fribourg, corresponding author), Christin Hilbich (0000-0002-7544-0911, University of Fribourg) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 064010-064010 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ad3c55 |
| OpenAlex | W4394623459 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 79 |
Warming permafrost has been detected worldwide and is projected to continue during the next century by many modelling studies. In mountain regions, this can lead to potentially hazardous impacts on short time-scales by an increased tendency for slope instabilities. However, time scales of permafrost thaw and the role of the ice content are less clear, especially in heterogeneous mountain terrain, where ice content can vary between zero and supersaturated conditions over small distances. Warming of permafrost near the freezing point shows therefore complex inter-annual behaviour due to latent heat effects during thawing and the influence of the snow-cover, which is governed by highly non-linear processes itself. Here, we demonstrate a preconditioning effect within near-surface layers in mountain permafrost that causes non-linear degradation and accelerates thaw. We hypothesise that a summer heat wave, as has occurred in the Central European summers 2003, 2015 and 2022, will enhance permafrost degradation if the active layer and the top of the permafrost layer are already preconditioned, i.e. have reduced latent heat content. This preconditioning can already be effectuated by a singular warm year, leading to exceptionally strong melting of the ground ice. On sloping terrain this ice-loss can be considered as irreversible, as large parts of the melted water will drain during the process, and an equivalent build-up of ice in cold years does not happen on similar time-scales as the melting. We propose a simple geophysical approach based on electrical resistivity tomography surveys that can assess the state of preconditioning in the absence of boreholes. In addition, we will show that resistivity data from a total of 124 permafrost sites in the Andes, Europe, and Antarctic adhere to a distinct power law behaviour between unfrozen and frozen states, which confirms the consistent electrical behaviour of permafrost and active layer materials over a wide range of landforms and material composition
Degradation (telecommunications · Earth science · Electrical engineering · Electrical resistivity and conductivity · Permafrost · Climate change and permafrost · Engineering · Environmental Science · Smart Materials for Construction · Geology · Soil Science
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Permafrost is warming at a global scale
Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback
Advances in operational permafrost monitoring on Svalbard and in Norway
Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content
Twenty years of European mountain permafrost dynamics—the Pace legacy
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |