Aufeis as a Major Forcing Mechanism for Channel Avulsion and Implications of Warming Climate

Prompted by field observation of an aufeis‐induced channel avulsion along the Hula Hula River in June 2021, we use measurements of channel migration zone width along 15 rivers flowing north across the Arctic coastal plain in Alaska, USA. We differentiated sites with aufeis that covered ≥1 km2 in ear...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2022-10, Vol.49 (20), p.n/a
Main Authors: Wohl, Ellen, Scamardo, Julianne E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alaska
arctic
Area
Aufeis
Avulsion
Climate
Climate change
Coastal plains
Corridors
cryosphere
Drainage
Drainage area
Drainage channels
floodplain
Floodplains
Global warming
Groundwater
Habitats
Heterogeneity
Ice
Ice cover
River channels
River flow
Rivers
spatial heterogeneity
Summer
Water springs
Width
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Summary:Prompted by field observation of an aufeis‐induced channel avulsion along the Hula Hula River in June 2021, we use measurements of channel migration zone width along 15 rivers flowing north across the Arctic coastal plain in Alaska, USA. We differentiated sites with aufeis that covered ≥1 km2 in early summer during the period 2017–2021 from sites without such aufeis formation. All but four of the 28 sites with aufeis have widths greater than the 95% confidence interval and 20 sites fall outside of the 95% prediction interval for channel width based on drainage area. Pairwise comparison indicates that the population of aufeis sites have significantly wider channel migration zones (p 
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2022GL100246