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Abstract Reservoirs of¹⁴C-depleted methane (CH₄), a potent greenhouse gas, residing beneath permafrost are vulnerable to escape where permafrost thaw creates open-talik conduits. However, little is known about the magnitude and variability of this methane source or its response to climate change. Remote-sensing detection of large gas seeps would be useful for establishing a baseline understanding of sub-permafrost methane seepage, as well as for monitoring these seeps over time. Here we explored synthetic aperture radar’s (SAR) response to large sub-permafrost gas seeps in an interior Alaskan lake. In SAR scenes from 1992 to 2011, we observed high perennial SAR L-band backscatter (σ⁰) from a ∼90 m-wide feature in the winter ice of interior Alaska’s North Blair Lake (NBL). Spring and fall optical imagery showed holes in the ice at the same location as the SAR anomaly. Through field work we (1) confirmed gas bubbling at this location from a large pockmark in the lakebed, (2) measured flux at the location of densest bubbles (1713 ± 290 mg CH₄m⁻²d⁻¹), and (3) determined the bubbles’ methane mixing ratio (6.6%), radiocarbon age (18 470 ± 50 years BP), and δ¹³C_CH4values (−44.5 ± 0.1‰), which together may represent a mixture of sources and processes. We performed a first order comparison of SARσ⁰from the NBL seep and other known sub-permafrost methane seeps with diverse ice/water interface shapes in order to evaluate the variability of SAR signals from a variety of seep types. Results from single-polarized intensity and polarimetric L-band SAR decompositions as well as dual-polarized C-band SAR are presented with the aim to find the optimal SAR imaging parameters to detect large methane seeps in frozen lakes. Our study indicates the potential for SAR remote sensing to be used to detect and monitor large, sub-permafrost gas seeps in Arctic and sub-Arctic lakes. 

Abstract Timing and completeness of freeze‐up on northern rivers impact winter travel and indicate responses to climate change. Open‐water zones (OWZs) within ice‐covered rivers are hazardous and may be increasing in extent and persistence. To better understand the distribution, variability, and mechanisms of OWZs, we selected nine reaches totaling 380 river‐km for remote sensing analysis and field studies in western Alaska. We initially identified 48 OWZs from November 2022 optical imagery, inventoried their persistence into late winter and interannual consistency over previous years, and at a subset measured ice thickness, water depth and velocity, and physicochemistry. The most consistent locations of OWZ formation occurred below sharp bends and channel constrictions, whereas locations associated with river bars and eroding banks were more transient. Of 359 OWZs identified in early winter over 6 years, 8% persisted into late winter―all on the Yukon River mainstem. Although several OWZs were in locations where we anticipated groundwater influence, we found no field data indication of groundwater upwelling. Observations of jumble ice upstream of many OWZs led us to examine freeze‐up ice jam locations in optical imagery, which showed strong correspondence to downstream OWZs. We hypothesize that reaches downstream of ice jams are much slower to freeze‐over due to restricted ice transport and high turbulence caused by channel form and ice‐affected hydraulics. Future work should focus on evaluation of this and other competing hypothesis at both reach and river network scales to predict OWZ locations and occurrence relative to other processes affecting river freeze‐up in northern climates. 

Abstract The occurrence and magnitude of natural fossil methane (CH₄) emissions in the Arctic are poorly known. Emission of geologic CH₄, a potent greenhouse gas, originating beneath permafrost is of particular interest due to the potential for positive feedback to climate warming, whereby accelerated permafrost thaw releases permafrost‐trapped CH₄in a future warmer climate. The development of through‐going taliks in Arctic lakes overlying hydrocarbon reservoirs is one mechanism of releasing geologically sourced, subpermafrost CH₄. Here we use novel gas flux measurements, geophysical observations of the subsurface, shallow sediment coring, high‐resolution bathymetry measurements, and lake water chemistry measurements to produce a synoptic survey of the gas vent system in Esieh Lake, a northwest Alaska lake with exceedingly large geologic CH₄seep emissions. We find that microbially produced fossil CH₄is being vented though a narrow thaw conduit below Esieh Lake through pockmarks on the lake bottom. This is one of the highest flux geologic CH₄seep fields known in the terrestrial environment and potentially the highest flux single methane seep. The poleward retreat of continuous permafrost may have implications for more subcap CH₄release with increased permafrost thaw.