2022/03/14 by C. K. Paull, S R Dallimore, Young Keun Jin +7 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Climate change and permafrost #Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Permafrost #Seafloor spreading #Geology #Arctic #Bathymetry #Submarine #Continental shelf #Oceanography #Bathymetric chart #Pleistocene #Physical geography #Geomorphology #Paleontology #Geography
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.2119105119
openalex publication_date 2022/03/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
SignificanceTemperature increases in Arctic regions have focused attention on permafrost degradation on land, whereas little is known about the dynamics of extensive glacial-age permafrost bodies now submerged under the vast Arctic Continental shelves. Repeated high-resolution bathymetric surveys show that extraordinarily rapid morphologic changes are occurring at the edge of the continental slope of the Canadian Beaufort Sea along what was once the seaward limit of relict Pleistocene permafrost. How widespread similar changes are on the Arctic shelves is unknown, as this is one of the first areas in the Arctic subjected to multiple multibeam bathymetric surveys. Rapid morphologic changes associated with active submarine permafrost thawing may be an important process in sculpturing the seafloor in other submarine permafrost settings.