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SAMC
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• ANNUAL REPORT 2013
Terrestrial erosion mechanisms
Terrestrial erosionmechanisms are studied at field sites
at Svalbard and NW-Russia, Baydara and Varandey.
General challenges involve the lack of a qualitative
description of coastal erosion phenomena in the Arctic,
a primary need in quantifying the input of different key
factors into the erosion process and the lack of a full
data set of field observations over sufficient time. Other
challenges are technical and HSE-related issues during
field measurements and observations in remote areas.
To answer these challenges according to current
needs of our industrial partners our research activi-
ties included qualitative research on coastal erosion
phenomena in the Arctic and quantitative assessment
of the input of different factors in the erosion process.
This is being investigated in Emilie Guegan’s PhD thesis
“Modelling of Erosion rates and mechanisms in coastal
permafrost”. When this is completed there will be
recommendations for the modelling of coastal erosion
in the Arctic providing a deeper understanding of role
of different environmental forces on erosion dynamics,
and an assessment of the coastal soil thermal regime
and stability.
Data collection is undertaken at the field sites for
mechanical, hydrological, physical and thermal data,
with measurements of erosion rates and soil proper-
ties onshore, and with wave and current measurements
offshore. It is the ambition of SAMCoT that these data
will also be useful for PhD candidate Yared Bekele, who
is working with the development of a for Thermo-Hydro-
Mechanical (TMH) model.
PhD candidate Daria Aleksyutina is doing her research
on the physical and thermal properties of the permafrost
soils at the Baydara field site. In March 2013 Aleksyutina
visited Svalbard and UNIS and met with other SAMCoT-
researchers. She also visited the Vestpynten field site
and was able to do some investigations at the geotechni-
cal laboratory at UNIS. Aleksyutina
participated in the 2013 field
excursion to Baydara in June and
performed in situ investigations on
the physical and thermal proper-
ties of the bluff. In her regular
working space at the Department
of geocryology at Moscow State
University
(MSU),
Aleksyutina
works with laboratory investiga-
tions on the undisturbed frozen
permafrost samples from Baydara.
Her study also includes assess-
ment of the role these parameters
have on the retreat rate of the
Baydara coastline.
Figure 16. Research on coastal erosion in Varandey,
Barents Sea (Sinitsyn A., Guegan E.)
SAMCoT PhD candidate Guegan during the field investiga-
tions and temperature measurements of the snowbank at
Vestpynten, early April 2013.
Photo: Kim Senger