An Assessment of the Possibility of Restoration and Protection of Territories Disturbed by Thermokarst in Central Yakutia, Eastern Siberia

Aleksandr Zhirkov (), Maksim Sivtsev, Vasylii Lytkin, Anatolii Kirillin, Antoine Séjourné and Zhi Wen
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Aleksandr Zhirkov: Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk 677010, Russia
Maksim Sivtsev: Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk 677010, Russia
Vasylii Lytkin: Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk 677010, Russia
Anatolii Kirillin: Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk 677010, Russia
Antoine Séjourné: University Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, 91190 Paris, France
Zhi Wen: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Rapid permafrost degradation is observed in northern regions as a result of climate change and expanding economic development. Associated increases in active layer depth lead to thermokarst development, resulting in irregular surface topography. In Central Yakutia, significant areas of the land surface have been deteriorated by thermokarst; however, no mitigation or land rehabilitation efforts are undertaken. This paper presents the results of numerical modeling of the thermal response of permafrost to changes in the active layer hydrothermal regime using field data from the village of Amga, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), and mathematical analysis. The results suggest that restoring a thick ice-enriched layer will require increasing the pre-winter soil moisture contents in order to increase the effective heat capacity of the active layer. Snow removal or compaction during the winter is recommended to maximize permafrost cooling. The thickness of the restored transition layer varies from 0.3 to 1.3 m depending on soil moisture contents in the active layer. The modeling results demonstrate that damaged lands can be restored through a set of measures to lower the subsurface temperatures. A combination of the insulating layer (forest vegetation) and the high heat capacity layer (transition layer) in the atmosphere–ground system would be more effective in providing stable geocryological conditions.

Keywords: permafrost; ice-rich sediments; thermokarst; yedoma (ice complex); active layer; transition layer; permafrost degradation; transition layer restoration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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