stages were the long-range periods of permafrost aggradation. Interglacial periods were characterized by extensive permafrost degradation. Circum-arctic Permafrost dynamics and Quaternary environmental [...] Permafrost Archives Development, stability and degradation of permafrost have strongly been connected with natural climate fluctuations of cold and warm periods during the Quaternary earth history of the [...] for three decades. Characteristics of frozen sediments and ice structure therein inform how the permafrost deposits have been formed and transformed. Ice wedges can say something about the composition of
A previously underestimated risk lurks in the frozen soil of the Arctic. When the ground thaws and becomes unstable in response to climate change, it can lead to the collapse of industrial infrastruct
quantity of heat stored on land, showing the distribution of land heat among the continental ground, permafrost soils, and inland water bodies. The calculations, published in Earth System Dynamics , show that
gas drivers. Overall, the FluxWIN project aims to understand how now-frozen soils will respond to permafrost thaw as soils that are always frozen shift to becoming seasonally or perennially thawed with increased
temporal resolution in the Elbe estuary. Another hot spot of unknown magnitude is the rapid thawing of permafrost soils and sediments in the arctic region. In In the framework of MOSES and in cooperation with [...] institutes (AWI-Periglacial Research, GFZ, Geomar) we plan to assess the influence of rapidly thawing permafrost on the distribution of methane in the aquatic environment. Especially the winter situation, the
Profile submarine permafrost (Foto: Volker Rachold /AWI) (Photo: Alfred Wegener Institut) What is submarine permafrost? Subsea permafrost in the Arctic is generally relict terrestrial permafrost, inundated after [...] Why is it important? Submarine permafrost is similar to its terrestrial counterpart, but lies beneath the coastal seas. And as with terrestrial permafrost, subsea permafrost is a substantial reservoir and/or [...] of submarine permafrost and the influence of future climate system changes on submarine permafrost. Key lines of inquiry include: seasonal and interannual variability of sea floor permafrost boundary conditions
Many of the models used to make climate projections are unable to dynamically reflect permafrost. A new study involving experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute has for the first time applied an extensive [...] extensive ensemble of 17 climate models to quantify how said models portray permafrost in warm climates. Drawing on a comparison of models for a warm period during the mid-Pliocene roughly three million years [...] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the researchers conclude that the near-surface permafrost extent was less than 10 percent of that seen in the preindustrial era.
investigation into the rapidly changing permafrost regions in the northern hemisphere. The project seeks to answer pressing questions about the role of permafrost thaw in the global climate system, and [...] the people living in these regions. The culmination of this ambitious endeavour is the "Arctic Permafrost Atlas," a ground-breaking publication set to launch during the Arctic Circle Assembly on October
in WP5. Methods will include quantification of land to ocean carbon transport from glacier and permafrost melting and analysis of POC degradability and POC/DOC concentration and composition, organic matter