Data for Analysis of the Sensitivity of Erosion-Rate in Permafrost Landscapes to Changing Climatic and Environmental Conditions Based on Lake Sediments From Northwestern Alaska (1998-2022)

Erosion of landscapes underlaid by permafrost can transform sediment and nutrient fluxes, surface and subsurface hydrology, soil properties, and rates of permafrost thaw, thus changing ecosystems and carbon emissions in high latitude regions with potential implications for global climate. However, future rates of erosion and sediment transport are difficult to predict as they depend on complex interactions between climatic and environmental parameters such as temperature, precipitation, permafrost, vegetation, wildfires, and hydrology. Thus, despite the potential influence of erosion on the future of the Arctic and global systems, the relations between erosion-rate and these parameters, as well as their relative importance, remain largely unquantified. The data shared here was used to quantify these relations based on a sedimentary record from Burial Lake, Alaska, one of the richest datasets of Arctic lake deposits.
The tabular data (csv) in this data submission includes variables that were used in multivariate analysis to detect the paleo-environmental proxies that are most strongly associated with erosion rates. The variables were measured through multiple studies (Abbott et al., 2010; Dorfman et al., 2015; Finkenbinder et al., 2015; Finkenbinder et al., 2018, King et al., 2021; Kurek et al., 2009). Information about data interpolation and analysis can be found in Shelef et al., 2022.
Abbott, M. B., Edwards, M. E., and Finney, B. P. (2010). A 40, 000-yr record of environmental change from Burial Lake in Northwest Alaska. Quaternary Research, 74(1), 156–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2010.03.007
Dorfman, J., Stoner, J., Finkenbinder, M., Abbott, M., Xuan, C., and St-Onge, G. (2015). A 37, 000-year environmental magnetic record of Aeolian dust deposition from Burial Lake, Arctic Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews, 128, 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.08.018
Finkenbinder, M. S., Abbott, M., Finney, B., Stoner, J., and Dorfman, J. (2015). A multi-proxy reconstruction of environmental change spanning the last 37, 000 years from Burial Lake, Arctic Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews, 126, 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.08.031
Finkenbinder, M. S., Abbott, M. B., Stoner, J. S., Ortiz, J. D., Finney, B. P., Dorfman, J. M., and Stansell, N. D. (2018). Millennial-scale variability in Holocene aquatic productivity from Burial Lake, Arctic Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews, 187, 220–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.03.019
King, A. L., Anderson, L., Abbott, M., Edwards, M., Finkenbinder, M. S., Finney, B., and Wooller, M. J. (2021). A stable isotope record of late Quaternary hydrologic change in the northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska (eastern Beringia). Journal of Quaternary Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3368
Kurek, J., Cwynar, L. C., Ager, T. A., Abbott, M. B., and Edwards, M. E. (2009). Late Quaternary paleoclimate of Western Alaska inferred from fossil Chironomids and its relation to vegetation histories. Quaternary Science Reviews, 28(9–10), 799–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.12.001
Shelef, E., Griffore, M., Mark, S., Coleman, T., Wondolowski, N., Lasher, G.E. and Abbott, M., 2022. Sensitivity of erosion‐rate in permafrost landscapes to changing climatic and environmental conditions based on Lake sediments From Northwestern Alaska. Earth's Future, 10(8), p.e2022EF002779.