Dear colleagues,
We would like to draw your attention to the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly (May 3-8, 2020) in Vienna and in particular to our session
Permafrost Retrogressive Thaw Slumps – Hotspots of Rapid Permafrost Thaw
https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2020/session/34953
The study of rapid permafrost degradation features such as thaw slumps on river shores, sea coasts and slopes in High Latitudes have increased in recent years with accelerated permafrost thaw, tundra and taiga fires and thermo-erosion driven by ongoing Arctic warming. Furthermore, thaw slumps measuring several hundred meter wide and several decameters deep known as 'megaslumps' have been identified in Siberia and Canada and introduced to the scientific literature within the last decade. The combination of thermal and erosional processes in ice-rich permafrost terrain promotes the release of organic matter, nutrients and trace elements into riverine and marine systems that certainly alters food webs and biogeochemical cycling. Ongoing research focuses (1) on modern thaw slumps dynamics monitored by onsite and remote sensing as well as geophysical methods, (2) on quality and quantity of released material and its impact on adjacent ecosystems, and (3) on still preserved Quaternary inventories of fossil organic matter and ground ice that are accessible in thaw slump headwalls. The session seeks to combine these main research directions to promote interdisciplinary approaches within the field of permafrost research.
We are happy to confirm solicited presentations by Steve Kokelj (Northwest Territories Geological Survey) and George Tanski (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam).
Convener: Sebastian Wetterich, Co-conveners: Alexandr Kizyakov, Thomas Opel, Trevor Porter, Melissa Ward
The abstract submission deadline is 15 January 2020, 13:00 CET, i.e. only one week to go.
We hope to see you in May in Vienna!
Best wishes,
Sebastian, Alexandr, Thomas, Trevor, Melissa
-- Dr. Thomas Opel Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Helmholtz Young Investigator Group PALICE and Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems Telegrafenberg A6 14473 Potsdam Germany thomas.opel@awi.de +49(331)288-2224 https://www.awi.de/nc/en/about-us/organisation/staff/thomas-opel.html https://www.awi.de/en/science/junior-groups/palice https://www.awi.de/en/science/geosciences/polar-terrestrial-environmental-systems https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas_Opel https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1315-8256 https://twitter.com/iso_topel LATEST PUBLICATIONS: Stable isotope signatures of Holocene syngenetic permafrost trace seabird presence in the Thule District (NW Greenland). https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4261-2019 Past climate and continentality inferred from ice wedges at Batagay megaslump in the Northern Hemisphere's most continental region, Yana Highlands, interior Yakutia. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1443-2019 Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904515116 Attempts to understand potential deficiencies in chemical procedures for AMS. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2019.05.005 Ice Complex formation on Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (New Siberian Archipelago, East Siberian Arctic) since about 200 ka. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2019.6 Ice wedges as archives of winter paleoclimate: A review. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1980
