Impacts of ecological succession and climate warming on permafrost aggradation in drained lake basins of the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Northwest Territories, Canada

Abstract

Rapidly increasing air temperatures will alter permafrost conditions across the Arctic, but variation in soils, vegetation, snow conditions, and their effects on ground thermal regime complicate prediction across spatial and temporal scales. Processes that result in the emergence of new surfaces (lake drainage, channel migration, isostatic uplift, etc.) provide an opportunity to assess the factors influencing permafrost aggradation and terrain evolution under a warming climate. In this study we describe ground temperatures, vegetation, and snow and soil conditions at six drained lake basins (DLBs) that have exposed new terrain in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands in the last 20–100 years. We also use one‐dimensional thermal modeling to assess the impact of ecological succession and future climate scenarios on permafrost conditions in historical and future DLBs. Our field observations show that deep snow pack and shallow organic layers at shrub‐dominated DLBs promote increased thaw depth and ground temperatures compared to a sedge‐dominated DLB and two ancient DLB reference sites. Modeling of past and future drainages shows that climate warming projected under RCP 8.5 will reduce rates of permafrost aggradation and thickness, and drive top‐down thaw that could degrade permafrost in shrub‐dominated DLBs by the end of the century. Permafrost at sedge‐dominated sites was more resilient to warming under RCP 8.5, with the onset of top‐down thaw delayed until about 2080. Together, this indicates that the effects of ecological succession on organic soil development and snow drifting will strongly influence the aggradation and resilience of permafrost in DLBs. Our analysis suggests that DLBs and other emergent landscapes will be the first permafrost‐free environments to develop under a warming climate in the continuous permafrost zone.