Observations of Thermokarst and Its Impact on Boreal Forests in Alaska, U.S.A.

Abstract

Thermokarst is developing in the boreal forests of Alaska where ice-rich discontinuous permafrost is thawing. Thawing destroys the physical foundation (ice-rich soil) on which boreal forest ecosystems rest causing dramatic changes in the ecosystem. Impacts on the forest depend primarily on the type and amount of ice present in the permafrost and on drainage conditions. At sites generally underlain by ice-rich permafrost, forest ecosystems can be completely destroyed. In the Mentasta Pass area, wet sedge meadows, bogs, thermokarst ponds, and lakes are replacing forests. An upland thermokarst site on the University of Alaska Campus consists of polygonal patterns of troughs and pits caused by thawing ice-wedge polygons. Trees are destroyed in corresponding patterns. In the Tanana Flats, ice-rich permafrost supporting birch forests is thawing rapidly and the forests are being converted to minerotrophic floating mat fens. At this site, an estimated 83% of 2.6*10⁵ ha was underlain by permafrost a century or more ago. About 42% of this permafrost has been influenced by thermokarst development within the last 1 to 2 centuries. Thaw subsidence at the above sites is typically 1 to 2 m with some values up to 6 m. Much of the discontinuous permafrost in Alaska is extremely warm, usually within 1 or 2°C of thawing, and highly susceptible to thermal degradation. Additional warming will result in the formation of new thermokarst.