Zero-order to first-order: Hydrologic drivers of surface-subsurface storage dynamics in thawing permafrost landscapes (2102338)

The hydrology of Arctic hillslopes underlain by continuous permafrost is largely controlled by water tracks, seasonally saturated zero-order features draining a third of the upland Arctic. Water tracks can rapidly degrade into thermoerosional gullies, the most common Arctic thermoerosional feature, altering seasonal saturation and fluxes of water, nutrients, and sediments. Although water tracks and thermoerosional gullies are the largest and most variable aquatic sources of permafrost carbon release, we do not understand their saturation dynamics and how these dynamics change as permafrost thaws. Collectively, this work will improve predictions of saturation-controlled carbon release from the Arctic. (Public Abstract)