Evolution of Active Layer Thickness in Permafrost of McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: A Two‐Decade Study (2003–2022)

2025/08/17 by Wenxuan Xue, Zhiwei Zhou, Liming Jiang +3

paper · doi:10.1002/ppp.70005

Abstract

ABSTRACT Understanding the evolution of permafrost extent and active layer thickness (ALT) surrounding Antarctica is critical to global climate change and ecosystem transformations in the polar regions. However, due to the remoteness and harsh environment of Antarctica, most studies lack long‐term and a regional perspective on the variations of ALT in Antarctica, resulting in hindering accurate assessment of ALT dynamics. In this study, based on MODIS land surface temperature (LST) and soil climate station data, we used the Stefan model to reconstruct ALT in the ice‐free area of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) in East Antarctica from 2003 to 2022. The modeled ALT was verified against ground observations showing a good correlation ( R ) of 0.72 ( p

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