Schematic overview of a typical terrestrial and shallow-marine permafrost landscape during summer and winter

2026-07-17T23:08:39Zhttp://doidb.wdc-terra.org/oaip/oai

oai:doidb.wdc-terra.org:61202026-06-10T09:52:54ZDOIDBDOIDB.GFZ

false4DOIDB.GFZ 10.5880/GFZ.LIS.2015.001 Boike, Julia 0000-0002-5875-2112 Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research Elger, Kirsten 0000-0001-5140-8602 GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany Brunke, Melanie Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research Hinzman, Larry D. International Arctic Research Center, University of Fairbanks, Alaska, USA Schematic overview of a typical terrestrial and shallow-marine permafrost landscape during summer and winter GFZ Data Services 2015 permafrost landscapes thermokarst submarine permafrost carbon and water fluxes EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > FROZEN GROUND > PERMAFROST Boike, Julia 0000-0002-5875-2112 Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research Elger, Kirsten 0000-0001-5140-8602 GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany Brunke, Melanie Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research Hinzman, Larry D. International Arctic Research Center, University of Fairbanks, Alaska, USA Boike, Julia Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2015-06-22 Image CC BY 4.0 Schematic overview of a typical terrestrial and shallow-marine permafrost landscape during summer and winter.
Permafrost is defined as ground that remains continuously at or below 0°C for at least two consecutive years; some 24% of the land surface in the northern hemisphere is classified as permafrost. This schematic figure (summer) pictures a terrestrial and shallow marine permafrost system. A permafrost landscape is characterized by its large heterogeneity with morphological permafrost-related features such as polygonal patterned ground with underlying ice wedges, thaw ponds, thermokarst lakes, and wetland areas. During winter, the terrestrial landscape is covered with snow, and water bodies and the ocean are typically covered with ice.The last pictures shows schematically the fluxes (not scaled) that occur between the terrestrial and marine environment and atmosphere.