Annual and sub-seasonal dynamics of a rapidly eroding permafrost coastline along the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska

Ward Jones, Melissa K.; Jones, Benjamin M.; Nitze, Ingmar; Gessner, Matthias; Grosse, Guido; Bartsch, Annett; Bull, Diana

doi:10.1038/s41598-025-04753-3

Annual and sub-seasonal dynamics of a rapidly eroding permafrost coastline along the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska

Journal Article · Thu Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04753-3· OSTI ID:2584027

Ward Jones, Melissa K. ^[1]; Jones, Benjamin M. ^[1]; Nitze, Ingmar ^[2]; Gessner, Matthias ^[3]; Grosse, Guido ^[2]; Bartsch, Annett ^[4]; Bull, Diana ^[5]

Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
Alfred Wegener Inst. for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam (Germany)
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Berlin (Germany)
b.geos GmbH, Korneuburg (Austria)
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Drew Point, an unlithified ice-rich permafrost coastline along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, is among the most rapidly eroding Arctic coastlines, with an average erosion rate of 19 m/yr from 2007 to 2019. We use 16 high-resolution remote sensing datasets (satellite, airborne, and UAV imagery) to analyze erosion mechanisms (thermal abrasion and denudation) in relation to environmental forcings along a 1.5 km stretch of coastline during the 2018 and 2019 open water seasons. In a striking contrast, 2019 exhibited the highest mean erosion rate (34.5 m) within the 2007–2019 record, while 2018 had the second lowest (11.2 m). Block failure contributed to sub-seasonal erosion rates 6 to 21 times higher than thermal denudation, with staggered block fall timing, lag responses post-storm, and non-storm block collapse influencing overall erosion magnitude and timing. To quantify wind effects, we developed wind sums, a metric combining cumulative wind speed and directional data that can be used as a proxy for integrated storm intensity capable of incorporating lagged responses that correlated strongly with erosion at sub-seasonal and annual scales. Our findings emphasize the dominant role of wind during periods of open water and air temperature during the thaw season in driving permafrost coastline erosion dynamics, while highlighting the importance of spatiotemporally high-resolution datasets for understanding Arctic coastal change dynamics.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; National Science Foundation (NSF); European Space Agency (ESA)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2584027

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 15; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Annual and sub-seasonal dynamics of a rapidly eroding permafrost coastline along the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska

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