Rapid changes to the Arctic seafloor noted as submerged permafrost thaws
Beaufort Sea, view from space .A new study from MBARI researchers and their collaborators is the first to document how the thawing of permafrost, submerged underwater at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, is affecting the seafloor. The study was published in theNumerous peer-reviewed studies show that thawing permafrost creates unstable land which negatively impacts important Arctic infrastructure, such as roads, train tracks, buildings, and airports.
"We know that big changes are happening across the Arctic landscape, but this is the first time we've been able to deploy technology to see that changes are happening offshore too," said Charlie Paull, a geologist at MBARI and one of the lead authors of the study."This groundbreaking research has revealed how the thawing of submarine permafrost can be detected, and then monitored once baselines are established.
"There isn't a lot of long-term data for the seafloor temperature in this region, but the data we do have aren't showing a warming trend. The changes to seafloor terrain are instead being driven by heat carried in slowly moving groundwater systems," explained Paull.
MBARI used autonomous underwater vehicles and ship-based sonar to map the bathymetry of the seafloor down to a resolution of a one-meter square grid, or roughly the size of a dinner table., a Korean icebreaker. This trip with MBARI's long-time Canadian and Korean collaborators -- along with the addition of the United States Naval Research Laboratory -- will help refine our understanding of the decay of submarine permafrost.
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