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EROSION OF PERMAFROST COASTS UNDER LOCAL HUMAN IMPACT, WESTERN YAMAL PENINSULA, KARA SEA, RUSSIA
Abstract
The present study investigates spatial and temporal variability of permafrost coasts? retreat rates at the offshore gas pipeline crossing of the Western Yamal Peninsula coast under conditions of climate change and local human impact. Erosion of permafrost coasts is determined by a combination of hydrometeorological factors, such as wave height, air and water temperature, ice-free period duration, and the features of coastal structure: cliff height, ground ice content, type of sediments. Coastal dynamics were studied on the basis of long-term field monitoring conducted by the Laboratory of geoecology of the North of Moscow State University since 1989, along with analysis of multitemporal aerospace imagery. The dynamics of both the retreating and accumulative sites over the 14 km of the coast was investigated. Erosional coasts retreated by 19 meters in 48 years with a mean annual retreat rate of 0.4 meters per year for 1968-2016 along an 8-kilometer coastal segment. In 2005-2016, the retreat rates increased by 1.3-4.7 times compared to 1968-2005. The reason can lie either in relatively warm years with the sums of annual positive temperatures exceeding average long-term values, or in the human impact connected with ongoing construction started in 2007. The accumulative coastal segment was relatively stable before the pipeline construction, its? dynamics corresponded to the retreat rates of thermoerosional sections surrounding it. During the construction period, barrier beach edge moved landwards. Heavy vehicles passage caused the destruction of top layer of barrier beach. Sand excavation from beach and barrier changed the shoreface profile of the coastal zone and decreased stability of the coasts to erosion. These changes occurred under the conditions of climate warming and decrease of ice cover, which led to the growth of thermal and wave impact on coastal systems.
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