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  • Review Article
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Lake and drained lake basin systems in lowland permafrost regions

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 3, pages 85–98 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The formation, growth and drainage of lakes in Arctic and boreal lowland permafrost regions influence landscape and ecosystem processes. These lake and drained lake basin (L-DLB) systems occupy >20% of the circumpolar Northern Hemisphere permafrost region and ~50% of the area below 300 m above sea level. Climate change is causing drastic impacts to L-DLB systems, with implications for permafrost dynamics, ecosystem functioning, biogeochemical processes and human livelihoods in lowland permafrost regions. In this Review, we discuss how an increase in the number of lakes as a result of permafrost thaw and an intensifying hydrologic regime are not currently offsetting the land area gained through lake drainage, enhancing the dominance of drained lake basins (DLBs). The contemporary transition from lakes to DLBs decreases hydrologic storage, leads to permafrost aggradation, increases carbon sequestration and diversifies the shifting habitat mosaic in Arctic and boreal regions. However, further warming could inhibit permafrost aggradation in DLBs, disrupting the trajectory of important microtopographic controls on carbon fluxes and ecosystem processes in permafrost-region L-DLB systems. Further research is needed to understand the future dynamics of L-DLB systems to improve Earth system models, permafrost carbon feedback assessments, permafrost hydrology linkages, infrastructure development in permafrost regions and the well-being of northern socio-ecological systems.

Key points

  • Lake formation, growth and drainage create a shifting mosaic of landforms that serve as a primary driver of landscape and ecosystem processes in Arctic and boreal lowland permafrost regions.

  • The lake and drained lake basin (L-DLB) system governs geomorphic, hydrologic, ecological and human land use activities in more than 20% of the northern permafrost region.

  • L-DLB systems occur in regions with both ice-rich and ice-poor permafrost terrains.

  • The recent increase in the rate of L-DLB landscape dynamics in lowland permafrost regions highlights their role as a catalyst for understanding Arctic system change in a warming climate.

  • Climate warming will likely increase the loss of lakes and continue to tip the landscape to one more heavily dominated by drained lake basins (DLBs).

  • The rate of permafrost aggradation under DLBs will likely slow, disrupting important microtopographic controls on carbon fluxes and ecosystem processes in permafrost-region L-DLB systems. Constraining the environmental impacts of an increase in the coverage of DLBs in a warming landscape is, therefore, a critical topic for future research.

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Fig. 1: The Arctic and boreal lowland permafrost region.
Fig. 2: The variability of lake and drained lake basin system districts.
Fig. 3: Evolution and future trajectory of the lake and drained lake basin system.
Fig. 4: Primary lake and drained lake basin system districts of the northern circumpolar permafrost region.
Fig. 5: The role of lake and drained lake basin systems in lowland permafrost carbon cycling.

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Acknowledgements

B.M.J., L.M.F., M.Z.K., B.V.G. and A.L.B. were supported by NSF grant OPP-1806213. B.M.J. and B.V.G. were supported by NSF grant OPP-1850578. B.M.J. was supported by NSF grant OPP-1903735. M.Z.K. was supported by NSF grant OPP-1820883. A.D.P. was supported by NSF grant OPP-1806202. K.M.H. was supported by NSF grant OPP-1806287. G.G. received support through BMBF KoPf Synthesis (03F0834B). P.R.-L. was supported by Gouvernement du Québec under the 2030 Plan for a Green Economy, Sentinel North programme of Université Laval (Canada First Research Excellence Fund) and ArcticNet, a Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada. Additional support was provided by an Action Groups award from the International Permafrost Association and the Teshekpuk Lake Observatory through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF-8006.19.063445). The authors would like to thank H. Foss for the graphical contributions to Fig. 3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Benjamin M. Jones, Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy & Benjamin V. Gaglioti

  2. Permafrost Research Section, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany

    Guido Grosse

  3. Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Guido Grosse

  4. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Louise M. Farquharson

  5. Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada

    Pascale Roy-Léveillée

  6. Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Russia

    Alexandra Veremeeva

  7. International Arctic Research Center (IARC), University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Amy L. Breen

  8. College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA

    Andrew D. Parsekian

  9. Institute for Geography, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Mathias Ulrich

  10. Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA

    Kenneth M. Hinkel

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Contributions

B.M.J. led the synthesis and organized the international collaborative author team. All co-authors provided input on the manuscript text, figures, discussion of scientific content, regional expertise and contributed equally to all aspects of the article.

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Glossary

Periglacial

Processes influenced by intense freeze–thaw and/or permafrost.

Taliks

Ground in permafrost regions that remains unfrozen year round.

Thermokarst lake

Lake that forms as a result of subsidence of the land surface due to the melting of ground ice.

Bank overtopping

The process of water spilling over the lake bank, promoting lateral drainage.

Piping or tunnel flow

Drainage through open frost cracks, underground erosional channels or layers of permeable material in taliks.

Pingos

A perennial frost mound consisting of a core of massive ice, produced primarily by injection of water, and covered with soil and vegetation.

Bølling–Allerød warming

An abrupt warm period that occurred during the final stages of the last glacial period.

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Jones, B.M., Grosse, G., Farquharson, L.M. et al. Lake and drained lake basin systems in lowland permafrost regions. Nat Rev Earth Environ 3, 85–98 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00238-9

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