Publication Date:
2018-12-29
Description:
To better understand the reaction of Arctic coasts to increasing environmental pressure, coastal
changes along a 210-km length of the Yukon Territory coast in north-west Canada were investigated.
Shoreline positions were acquired from aerial and satellite images between 1951 and 2011. Shoreline change
rates were calculated for multiple time periods along the entire coast and at six key sites. Additionally,
Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) measurements of shoreline positions from seven field sites
were used to analyze coastal dynamics from 1991 to 2015 at higher spatial resolution. The whole coast has a
consistent, spatially averaged mean rate of shoreline change of 0.7 ± 0.2 m/a with a general trend of
decreasing erosion from west to east. Additional data from six key sites shows that the mean shoreline
change rate decreased from �1.3 ± 0.8 (1950s–1970s) to �0.5 ± 0.6 m/a (1970s–1990s). This was followed by
a significant increase in shoreline change to �1.3 ± 0.3 m/a in the 1990s to 2011. This increase is confirmed by
DGPS measurements that indicate increased erosion rates at local rates up to �8.9 m/a since 2006.
Ground surveys and observations with remote sensing data indicate that the current rate of shoreline
retreat along some parts of the Yukon coast is higher than at any time before in the 64-year-long
observation record. Enhanced availability of material in turn might favor the buildup of gravel features,
which have been growing in extent throughout the last six decades.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
Format:
application/pdf
