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Accelerated thermokarst formation in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.


ABSTRACT: Thermokarst is a land surface lowered and disrupted by melting ground ice. Thermokarst is a major driver of landscape change in the Arctic, but has been considered to be a minor process in Antarctica. Here, we use ground-based and airborne LiDAR coupled with timelapse imaging and meteorological data to show that 1) thermokarst formation has accelerated in Garwood Valley, Antarctica; 2) the rate of thermokarst erosion is presently ~ 10 times the average Holocene rate; and 3) the increased rate of thermokarst formation is driven most strongly by increasing insolation and sediment/albedo feedbacks. This suggests that sediment enhancement of insolation-driven melting may act similarly to expected increases in Antarctic air temperature (presently occurring along the Antarctic Peninsula), and may serve as a leading indicator of imminent landscape change in Antarctica that will generate thermokarst landforms similar to those in Arctic periglacial terrains.

SUBMITTER: Levy JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3721085 | biostudies-other | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Accelerated thermokarst formation in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

Levy Joseph S JS   Fountain Andrew G AG   Dickson James L JL   Head James W JW   Okal Marianne M   Marchant David R DR   Watters Jaclyn J  

Scientific reports 20130101


Thermokarst is a land surface lowered and disrupted by melting ground ice. Thermokarst is a major driver of landscape change in the Arctic, but has been considered to be a minor process in Antarctica. Here, we use ground-based and airborne LiDAR coupled with timelapse imaging and meteorological data to show that 1) thermokarst formation has accelerated in Garwood Valley, Antarctica; 2) the rate of thermokarst erosion is presently ~ 10 times the average Holocene rate; and 3) the increased rate of  ...[more]

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