This dataset contains information on cryostratigraphy and ground-ice content of the upper permafrost , which was based on the results of field work in the Utqiagvik (former Barrow, Western Coastal Plain [CPW]), Teshekpuk Lake (Central Coastal Plain [CPC]), Inigok (Sand Sea [SS] and Loess Belt [LB]), Oumalik (LB), and Atqasuk (LB) study areas, northern Alaska (April 16 - May 2, 2019). Cryostratigraphy was studied mainly in drained-lakes basins (DLB); several boreholes were drilled at the primary surface of the Arctic Coastal Plain (CPC and SS) and yedoma surface (LB). A total of 28 boreholes were drilled through the frozen active layer and the upper permafrost, 19 of them were drilled in DLB, 6 – at the main surface near weather stations, and 3 – in the Pik dunes area. Permafrost drilling was performed with the SIPRE corer. Entire cores were described and photographed in the field, and more than 33 meters of frozen cores were delivered to the University of Alaska Fairbanks cold room for additional descriptions and analyses (carbon-14, ice content). During the lab study of the cores, more than 200 samples were taken for evaluation of ice content (including gravimetric and volumetric moisture content, excess-ice content) of frozen soils. The dataset includes cryostratigraphic descriptions, ice-content values, and photographs of the frozen cores obtained from 28 boreholes.
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Cryostratigraphy and ground-ice content of the upper permafrost in Alaska and Northern Canada, 2018-2023
This dataset contains information on cryostratigraphy and ground-ice content of the upper permafrost, which was based on the results of 22 field trips in 2018-2023. Field studies were performed in various regions of Alaska and Canadian Arctic including the following study areas: Utqiagvik (former Barrow), Teshekpuk Lake, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Toolik Lake, Jago River, Itkillik River, Anaktuvuk River, Fairbanks, Dalton Highway, Glennallen, Point Lay, Bylot Island (Canada), Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk (Canada). Cryostratigraphy of the upper permafrost was studied mainly in coastal and riverbank exposures and frozen cores obtained from drilling with the SIPRE corer. Permafrost exposures and cores were described and photographed in the field, and obtained soil samples were delivered to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for additional descriptions and analyses. Ice contents of frozen soils (including gravimetric and volumetric moisture content, excess-ice content) were measured. The dataset includes cryostratigraphic descriptions, gravimetric (GMC) and volumetric (VMC) moisture content, excess-ice content (EIC), electrical conductivity (EC) and photographs of the permafrost exposures and frozen cores obtained from boreholes.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1820883
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10494600
- Publisher / Repository:
- NSF Arctic Data Center
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- ["permafrost","ground ice","cryostratigraphy","ice wedges","cryostructures"]
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Recent excavation in the new CRREL Permafrost Tunnel in Fox, Alaska provides a unique opportunity to study properties of Yedoma — late Pleistocene ice- and organic-rich syngenetic permafrost. Yedoma has been described at numerous sites across Interior Alaska, mainly within the Yukon-Tanana upland. The most comprehensive data on the structure and properties of Yedoma in this area have been obtained in the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel near Fairbanks — one of the most accessible large-scale exposures of Yedoma permafrost on Earth, which became available to researchers in the mid-1960s. Expansion of the new ∼4-m-high and ∼4-m-wide linear excavations, started in 2011 and ongoing, exposes an additional 300 m of well-preserved Yedoma and provides access to sediments deposited over the past 40,000 years, which will allow us to quantify rates and patterns of formation of syngenetic permafrost, depositional history and biogeochemical characteristics of Yedoma, and its response to a warmer climate. In this paper, we present results of detailed cryostratigraphic studies in the Tunnel and adjacent area. Data from our study include ground-ice content, the stable water isotope composition of the variety of ground-ice bodies, and radiocarbon age dates. Based on cryostratigraphic mapping of the Tunnel and results of drilling above and inside the Tunnel, six main cryostratigraphic units have been distinguished: 1) active layer; 2) modern intermediate layer (ice-rich silt); 3) relatively ice-poor Yedoma silt reworked by thermal erosion and thermokarst during the Holocene; 4) ice-rich late Pleistocene Yedoma silt with large ice wedges; 5) relatively ice-poor fluvial gravel; and 6) ice-poor bedrock. Our studies reveal significant differences in cryostratigraphy of the new and old CRREL Permafrost Tunnel facilities. Original syngenetic permafrost in the new Tunnel has been better preserved and less affected by erosional events during the period of Yedoma formation, although numerous features (e.g., bodies of thermokarst-cave ice, thaw unconformities, buried gullies) indicate the original Yedoma silt in the recently excavated sections was also reworked to some extent by thermokarst and thermal erosion during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.more » « less
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Abstract Stephen Taber's early work on ice segregation and frost heaving was far ahead of its time. His laboratory experiments regarding ice segregation led to our current understanding of frost heave by civil and geotechnical engineers building roads and other structures in cold regions. It also laid the foundation for later process‐oriented field studies of cold‐climate geomorphic processes. Taber's 1943 regional monograph on the origin and history of perennially frozen ground in Alaska, published by the Geological Society of America, was the earliest example of regional cryostratigraphy, and pioneered the regional permafrost and Quaternary studies undertaken later by Katasonov, Popov, Mackay, Péwé, Hopkins, and others. An important dimension of Taber's Alaska work was his application of knowledge gained through laboratory experimentation to the interpretation of ground‐ice exposures in the field. While S. W. Muller is widely regarded as the “father” of permafrost studies in North America, Taber is properly viewed as the “progenitor” of cryostratigraphic studies, although he is not yet widely regarded as such. This study uses archival resources to provide historical context regarding the development of Taber's monograph, to investigate details about the review and publication process it underwent, and to explore the question of why it remains undervalued.
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