Review: Impacts of permafrost degradation on inorganic chemistry of surface fresh water
Introduction
Average atmospheric temperature has increased globally over the last decades and, as a response, the cryosphere is changing (Fountain et al., 2012). Permafrost, a component of the cryosphere, is widespread in the Arctic and Antarctica, and in cold mountains, including densely populated areas of the European Alps and Asian mountain ranges (Gruber, 2012). Permafrost interacts with climate (Walter Anthony et al., 2006, Schuur et al., 2015), hydrology (e.g., Liljedahl et al., 2016, Yang et al., 2017), ecosystems (Jorgenson et al., 2001, Vonk et al., 2015), geophysical processes (e.g., Gruber et al., 2004, Gruber and Haeberli, 2009), and human systems (Nelson et al., 2002, Harris et al., 2009).
Recent reviews have focused on the impacts of permafrost warming and degradation on river biogeochemistry (Frey and McClelland, 2009) and aquatic ecosystems (Vonk et al., 2015) in the Arctic. Notwithstanding, local and regional modifications of water hydrochemistry due to permafrost degradation have been reported from many locations, globally. Given the sparsity of data available, understanding and analysing permafrost degradation impacts on inorganic chemistry of surface fresh water will benefit from identifying common patterns in existing studies. The present review thus aims to distil insight gained across differing permafrost environments and configurations globally.
Following a brief background section, we distinguish three typical example configurations of permafrost thaw. For those, we review impacts of permafrost degradation on major ions (e.g., Ca2 +, Mg2 +, SO42 −, NO3−) and on trace elements (e.g., Ni, Mn, Al, Hg, Pb).
Section snippets
Permafrost: definition and main characteristics
Permafrost is defined as ground (soil and/or rock, including ice and organic material, plus air/gas in unsaturated ground) that remains at or below 0 °C for at least two consecutive years (Muller, 1943). Thus, permafrost is a thermal phenomenon and it can, but does not need to, contain water or ice. Most permafrost areas experience seasonal thaw, during which ground surface temperature rises above 0 °C. The layer of ground that thaws on a seasonal basis is called “active layer” (ACGR, 1988). The
Typical configurations of permafrost thaw
We focus on three typical configurations in which permafrost degradation can impact the inorganic chemistry of water bodies. While not exhaustive, these examples currently reflect major interests in this research field:
- i).
Pervasive permafrost degradation, leading to spatially-distributed modifications in groundwater-surface water connectivity and causing volumes of permafrost to thaw and become subject to weathering and leaching;
- ii).
thermokarst and associated localised mobilisations of sediments and
Pervasive permafrost degradation
A strong divergence of inorganic solute concentrations between catchments with differing permafrost extents has been reported, whereby lower concentrations are associated with higher permafrost extent. This has been attributed to permafrost (a) inhibiting the infiltration of surface water into deep mineral soil strata, and (b) confining mineral-rich groundwater in the subpermafrost zone without hydrological connection to surface water (Frey and McClelland, 2009, Woo, 2012, Kane et al., 2013).
Pervasive permafrost degradation
Although several studies dealt with the analysis of trace element concentrations in surface fresh water in cold areas, especially in the boreal and sub-Arctic regions (e.g., Rember and Trefry, 2004, Voss et al., 2015), researches devoted to the investigation of the links with permafrost dynamics are rare and mainly based on short time series. Typically, mobilisation of trace elements to surface water during early spring is attributed to snowmelt when precipitation that has accumulated during
Research perspectives
Several studies report major ion distribution in near-surface permafrost, finding increasing concentrations at the top of permafrost, generally corresponding with ice-rich layers. However, relatively few researches have combined geochemical analyses on changing near-surface permafrost and resulting effects on surface-water characteristics. Performing combined investigations may provide insight into the relationship between concentrations of major ions in near-surface permafrost and
Conclusion
This review of permafrost-thaw impacts on inorganic chemistry of surface fresh water has revealed several common patterns.
Spatially-distributed progressive increases of major ion delivery to surface fresh water have been reported in both polar and mountain areas following permafrost degradation. This is the result of increasing contributions of highly mineralised groundwater and enhanced interactions of soil water with deep mineral strata. Localised releases of major ions to surface water due
Acknowledgments
Nicola Colombo and Franco Salerno equally contributed to this paper. We greatly acknowledge the critical proof reading by Renée Leduc and Carina Schuh, and the valuable suggestions provided by Christopher Burn (Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada). Two anonymous reviewers provided valuable feedback and input during the review of this manuscript.
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