Circumpolar distribution and carbon storage of thermokarst landscapes

Abstract Thermokarst is the process whereby the thawing of ice-rich permafrost ground causes land subsidence, resulting in development of distinctive landforms. Accelerated thermokarst due to climate change will damage infrastructure, but also impact hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry. Here, we present a circumpolar assessment of the distribution of thermokarst landscapes, defined as landscapes comprised of current thermokarst landforms and areas susceptible to future thermokarst development. At 3.6 × 10 6 km 2 , thermokarst landscapes are estimated to cover ∼20% of the northern permafrost region, with approximately equal contributions from three landscape types where characteristic wetland, lake and…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 1331083, 955713, 338335
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: DE-SC0006982, 3ERKP818, SC0006982
• V
  Vetenskapsrådet
• AI
  Alberta Innovates
• UG
  U.S. Geological Survey
• OO
  Office of Science
• AC
  Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks