Coastal Erosion of the Russian Arctic: An Overview

Abstract

Ogorodov S.A., Aleksyutita D.M. et al., 2020. Coastal erosion of the Russian Arctic: An overview. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 599-604. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.An overview of 16 sites of coastal erosion monitoring at the fastest retreating key sites across the Russian Arctic was made. All of these coasts are composed by permafrost, creating specific conditions of their evolution and making them very sensitive to sea ice reduction and ice-free period increase along with the temperature growth, resulting from the ongoing climate change. Erosion of permafrost coasts is among the fastest destructive geomorphic processes in the Arctic. For each key area, data from literature on sediment composition, coastal morphology, permafrost properties and climate evolution were collected, assessed and compared. Rates of coastal retreat in the XX-XXI century derived from direct field measurements and processing of remotely sensed data were analyzed; mechanisms and drivers of coastal erosion were estimated. Patterns of spatial variability and temporal evolution of the coasts were suggested. The influence of different factors of coastal dynamics on thermodenudation (destruction of the bluffs during thawing of permafrost and ground ice) and thermoabrasion (erosion resulting from direct contact of waves with the frozen bluff) was estimated.