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This dataset documents the occurrence, distribution, and characteristics of cryptic ice wedge networks in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD), Alaska. The dataset is derived from remote sensing analyses, field-based permafrost coring, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, and stable water isotope analyses. High-resolution aerial orthoimagery from 2018 enabled the identification of ~50 linear kilometers (km) of ice wedge trough networks within a 60 square kilometers (km²) study area near Bethel, Alaska, revealing ice wedge networks previously undocumented in the region. Fieldwork in 2023 and 2024 confirmed the presence of ice wedges up to 1.5 meter (m) wide and 2.5 m tall, with wedge tops averaging 0.9 m below the surface. GPR transects identified additional ice wedges beyond those visible in imagery, suggesting that remote sensing analyses may underestimate their true abundance. Coring of polygon centers revealed a suite of late-Quaternary deposits, including early Holocene peat, ice-rich late-Pleistocene permafrost (reworked Yedoma), charcoal layers indicating past tundra fires, and the Aniakchak CFE II tephra (~3,600 calendar years before present [cal yrs BP]). Stable water isotope analyses of wedge ice (mean δ¹⁸O = -15.7 ‰, δ²H = -113.1 ‰) indicate relatively enriched values compared to other Holocene ice wedges in Alaska, reflecting the region's warm maritime climate influence. Expanding the mapping analysis across the YKD using very high-resolution satellite imagery, we found that 95 % of observed ice wedge networks occur at elevations between 4 and 80 meters above sea level (m asl), predominantly within tundra vegetation classes. These areas, covering ~32 % of the YKD tundra region, may contain additional ice wedges, peat deposits, and relict Yedoma. This dataset provides a new framework for understanding the spatial distribution and environmental controls on ice wedge development in warm permafrost regions, with implications for permafrost resilience, climate change vulnerability, and land use planning in the YKD. 

Large proglacial lakes could have been a significant methane source during the last deglaciation. Today, proglacial lakes are small and mostly limited in the northern hemisphere to the margins of ice sheets in Greenland, Alaska, and Canada, but much larger proglacial lakes collectively flooded millions of square kilometers in the northern hemisphere over the last deglacial period. We synthesize new and existing methane flux measurements from modern proglacial lakes in Alaska and Greenland and use these data together with reconstructed lake area and bathymetry, new paleorecords of sediment organic geochemistry, carbon accumulation, and other proxies to broadly constrain the possible deglacial methane dynamics of a single large North American proglacial lake, Lake Agassiz. While large influxes of glaciogenic material contributed to rapid organic carbon burial during initial lakes phases, limited bioavailability of this carbon is suggested by its likely subglacial origin and prior microbial processing. Water depths of >20 m across 37–90% of the lake area facilitating significant oxidation of methane within the water column further limited emissions. Later phases of lake lowering and subsequent re-expansion into shallow aquatic and subaerial environments provided the most significant opportunity for methane production according to our estimates. We found that Lake Agassiz was likely a small source [0.4–2.7 Tg yr−1 mean (0.1–9.9 Tg yr−1 95% CI)] of methane during the last deglaciation on par with emissions from modern wildfires. Although poor constraints of past global proglacial lake areas and morphologies currently prevent extrapolation of our results, we suggest that these systems were likely an additional source of methane during the last deglacial transition that require further study. 

Atmospheric methane (CH4) concentrations have gone through rapid changes since the last deglaciation; however, the reasons for abrupt increases around 14,700 and 11,600 years before present (yrs BP) are not fully understood. Concurrent with deglaciation, sea-level rise gradually inundated vast areas of the low-lying Beringian shelf. This transformation of what was once a terrestrial-permafrost tundra-steppe landscape, into coastal, and subsequently, marine environments led to new sources of CH4 from the region to the atmosphere. Here, we estimate, based on an extended geospatial analysis, the area of Beringian coastal wetlands in 1000-year intervals and their potential contribution to northern CH4 flux (based on present day CH4 fluxes from coastal wetland) during the past 20,000 years. At its maximum (∼14,000 yrs BP) we estimated CH4 fluxes from Beringia coastal wetlands to be 3.5 (+4.0/-1.9) Tg CH4 yr−1. This shifts the onset of CH4 fluxes from northern regions earlier, towards the Bølling-Allerød, preceding peak emissions from the formation of northern high latitude thermokarst lakes and wetlands. Emissions associated with the inundation of Beringian coastal wetlands better align with polar ice core reconstructions of northern hemisphere sources of atmospheric CH4 during the last deglaciation, suggesting a connection between rising sea level, coastal wetland expansion, and enhanced CH4 emissions. 

ABSTRACT The Yukon‐Kuskokwim Delta (YKD), covering ~75,000 km²of Alaska's discontinuous permafrost zone, has a historic (1902–2023) mean annual air temperature of ~−1°C and was previously thought to lack ice wedge networks. However, our recent investigations near Bethel, Alaska, revealed numerous near‐surface ice wedges. Using 20 cm resolution aerial orthoimagery from 2018, we identified ~50 linear km of ice wedge troughs in a 60 km²study area. Fieldwork in 2023 and 2024 confirmed ice wedges up to ~1.5 m wide and ~2.5 m in vertical extent, situated on average 0.9 m below the tundra surface (n = 29). Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) detected additional ice wedges beyond those visible in the remote sensing imagery, suggesting an underestimation of their true abundance. Coring of polygonal centers revealed late‐Quaternary deposits, including thick early Holocene peat, late‐Pleistocene ice‐rich silts (reworked Yedoma), charcoal layers from tundra fires, and the Aniakchak CFE II tephra (~3600 cal yrs BP). Stable water isotopes from Bethel's wedge ice (mean δ¹⁸O = −15.7 ‰, δ²H = −113.1 ‰) indicate a relatively enriched signature compared to other Holocene ice wedges in Alaska, likely due to warmer temperatures and maritime influences. Expanding our mapping across the YKD using high‐resolution satellite imagery from 2012 to 2024, we estimate that the Holocene ice wedge zone encompasses ~30% of the YKD tundra region. Our findings demonstrate that ice wedge networks are more widespread across the YKD than previously recognized, emphasizing both the resilience and vulnerability of the region's warm, ice‐rich permafrost. These insights are crucial for understanding permafrost responses to climate change and assessing agricultural potential and development in the region. 

Abstract Climate warming threatens to destabilize vast northern permafrost areas, potentially releasing large quantities of organic carbon that could further disrupt the climate. Here we synthesize paleorecords of past permafrost-carbon dynamics to contextualize future permafrost stability and carbon feedbacks. We identify key landscape differences between the last deglaciation and today that influence the response of permafrost to atmospheric warming, as well as landscape-level differences that limit subsequent carbon uptake. We show that the current magnitude of thaw has not yet exceeded that of previous deglaciations, but that permafrost carbon release has the potential to exert a strong feedback on future Arctic climate as temperatures exceed those of the Pleistocene. Better constraints on the extent of subsea permafrost and its carbon pool, and on carbon dynamics from a range of permafrost thaw processes, including blowout craters and megaslumps, are needed to help quantify the future permafrost-carbon-climate feedbacks. 

Soil carbon (C) in permafrost peatlands is vulnerable to decomposition with thaw under a warming climate. The amount and form of C loss likely depends on the site hydrology following permafrost thaw, but antecedent conditions during peat accumulation are also likely important. We test the role of differing hydrologic conditions on rates of peat accumulation, permafrost formation, and response to warming at an Arctic tundra fen using a process-based model of peatland dynamics in wet and dry landscape settings that persist from peat initiation in the mid-Holocene through future simulations to 2100 CE and 2300 CE. Climate conditions for both the wet and dry landscape settings are driven by the same downscaled TraCE-21ka transient paleoclimate simulations and CCSM4 RCP8.5 climate drivers. The landscape setting controlled the rates of peat accumulation, permafrost formation and the response to climatic warming and permafrost thaw. The dry landscape scenario had high rates of initial peat accumulation (11.7 ± 3.4 mm decade −1 ) and rapid permafrost aggradation but similar total C stocks as the wet landscape scenario. The wet landscape scenario was more resilient to 21st century warming temperatures than the dry landscape scenario and showed 60% smaller C losses and 70% more new net peat C additions by 2100 CE. Differences in the modeled responses indicate the largest effect is related to the landscape setting and basin hydrology due to permafrost controls on decomposition, suggesting an important sensitivity to changing runoff patterns. These subtle hydrological effects will be difficult to capture at circumpolar scales but are important for the carbon balance of permafrost peatlands under future climate warming. 

Rapid Arctic environmental change affects the entire Earth system as thawing permafrost ecosystems release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Understanding how much permafrost carbon will be released, over what time frame, and what the relative emissions of carbon dioxide and methane will be is key for understanding the impact on global climate. In addition, the response of vegetation in a warming climate has the potential to offset at least some of the accelerating feedback to the climate from permafrost carbon. Temperature, organic carbon, and ground ice are key regulators for determining the impact of permafrost ecosystems on the global carbon cycle. Together, these encompass services of permafrost relevant to global society as well as to the people living in the region and help to determine the landscape-level response of this region to a changing climate. 

Northern peatlands have accumulated large stocks of organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), but their spatial distribution and vulnerability to climate warming remain uncertain. Here, we used machine-learning techniques with extensive peat core data ( n > 7,000) to create observation-based maps of northern peatland C and N stocks, and to assess their response to warming and permafrost thaw. We estimate that northern peatlands cover 3.7 ± 0.5 million km 2 and store 415 ± 150 Pg C and 10 ± 7 Pg N. Nearly half of the peatland area and peat C stocks are permafrost affected. Using modeled global warming stabilization scenarios (from 1.5 to 6 °C warming), we project that the current sink of atmospheric C (0.10 ± 0.02 Pg C⋅y −1 ) in northern peatlands will shift to a C source as 0.8 to 1.9 million km 2 of permafrost-affected peatlands thaw. The projected thaw would cause peatland greenhouse gas emissions equal to ∼1% of anthropogenic radiative forcing in this century. The main forcing is from methane emissions (0.7 to 3 Pg cumulative CH 4 -C) with smaller carbon dioxide forcing (1 to 2 Pg CO 2 -C) and minor nitrous oxide losses. We project that initial CO 2 -C losses reverse after ∼200 y, as warming strengthens peatland C-sinks. We project substantial, but highly uncertain, additional losses of peat into fluvial systems of 10 to 30 Pg C and 0.4 to 0.9 Pg N. The combined gaseous and fluvial peatland C loss estimated here adds 30 to 50% onto previous estimates of permafrost-thaw C losses, with southern permafrost regions being the most vulnerable.