COASTAL EROSION RATES OF THE LAPTEV AND EAST SIBERIAN SEAS
M.N. Grigoriev
Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia
Keywords: coastal erosion, coastal retreat rate, thermal abrasion, thermal denudation, ice-reach coastal deposits, cryogenic geomorphological processes
Abstract
Data from detailed and long-term coastal studies in the Arctic have been utilized to estimate the rates of coastal erosion along the Laptev and East Siberian seas, as well as to reveal the specific features of geomorphological and cryogenic coastal processes. Eroding coastlines are dominant in the study region with erosion rates as high as 25 m per year along the coasts composed of very ice-rich permafrost sediments. The Laptev and East Siberian coastline was subdivided into 123 coastal segments each characterized by specific lithology, coastal morphology, and dynamic regime. It was found that the average long-term rates of retreat of the shores of the Laptev and East Siberian Seas are characterized by the highest rates of destruction in comparison with the shores of all other Arctic seas.
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