Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A landscape pattern formed by the melting of permafrost and characterized by patterns of hummocks and water-filled depressions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun geology A region similar in appearance to
karst topography , characterized by an irregular land surface, withbogs ,pits , and otherdepressions , formed in areas ofpermafrost due to ice melting.
Etymologies
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Examples
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The lakes in this area are known as thermokarst lakes.
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Similar features can be found in "thermokarst" landscapes in Alaska and elsewhere, where permafrost is melting to create lakes and streams.
New Images Suggest More Recent Lakes on Mars | Universe Today 2010
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"thermokarst" lakes - formed when terrain collapses over thawing permafrost and fills with meltwater - may have doubled in the past three decades.
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"thermokarst" lakes _ formed when terrain collapses over thawing permafrost and fills with meltwater _ may have doubled in the past three decades.
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Holocene environmental history of thermokarst lakes on Richards Island, Northwest Territories, Canada: Theocamoebians as paleolimnological indicators.
Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009
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Increases in active-layer depth can cause subsidence at the surface, a lowering of the soil water table [46], and, potentially, thermokarst erosion [47].
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The susceptibility of permafrost to environmental hazards associated with thermokarst, ground settlement, and several other destructive cryogenic processes can be crudely evaluated using the geocryological hazard index, which is the combination of the projected percentage change in active-layer thickness and the ground ice content:
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Increased disturbances such as pest outbreaks, thermokarst, and fire are also likely to locally affect the direction of treeline response.
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Losses of thermokarst lakes within lowlying deltaic areas are also likely to result from rising sea levels.
Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009
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Warming of surface permafrost, however, will very probably enhance the formation of thermokarst wetlands, ponds, and drainage networks, particularly in areas characterized by concentrations of massive ground ice.
Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009
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