US EPA

9417759 

Journal Article 

Long-term rates of coastal erosion and carbon input, Elson Lagoon, Barrow, Alaska 

Brown, J; Jorgenson, MT; Smith, OP; Lee, W 

2003 

101-106 

WOS:000185049300019 

Low bluffs along El son Lagoon (71degrees19'N, 156degrees35'W) consist of ice-rich, fine-grained sediments, surface and buried peats, and ice-wedges. A time series of erosion rates from 1949 to 2000 along the 10.8-km long reach of lagoon coast was determined by georeferencing aerial and high-resolution satellite imagery. Erosion rates for the period 1979-2000 were 47% higher (0.86 m/yr) than 1948-1979 (0.56 m/yr) and 23% higher than the 51-year average (0.68 m/yr). A total of 28 hectares of land was lost between 1979 and 2000. A sustained shift of storm winds at Barrow appears to correspond to the trend of increased erosion along the shores of Elson Lagoon. Water depths adjacent to the most rapidly eroding section (2.75 m/yr) are relatively deep; an indication of active submarine erosion associated with greater fetch and higher wave energy Initial estimates of annual sediment input are 1.6 X 10(3) m(3)/km for mineral sediment and 63,500 kg soil carbon/km for this section of Elson Lagoon. These observations of erosion, sediment fluxes and transport are a contribution to the Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD) project.