Description: Detailed calculations of ground-ice volumes in permafrost deposits are necessary to understand and quantify the response of permafrost landscapes to thermal disturbance and thawing. Ice wedges with their polygonal surface expression are a widespread ground-ice component of permafrost lowlands. Therefore, the wedge-ice volume (WIV) is one of the major factors to be considered, both for assessing permafrost vulnerability and for quantifying deep permafrost soil carbon inventories. Here, a straightforward tool for calculating the WIV is presented. This GIS and satellite image-based method provides an interesting approach for various research disciplines where WIV is an important input parameter, including landscape and ecosystem modeling of permafrost thaw or organic carbon assessments in deep permafrost deposits. By using basic data on subsurface ice-wedge geometry, our tool can be applied to other permafrost region where polygonal-patterned ground occurs. One is able to include individual polygon geomorphometry at a specific site and the shape and size of epigenetic and/or syngenetic ice wedges in three dimensions. Exemplarily, the WIV in late Pleistocene Yedoma deposits and Holocene thermokarst deposits is calculated at four case study areas in Siberia and Alaska. Therefore, we mapped ice-wedge polygons and thermokarst mounds (baydzherakhs) patters on different landscape units by using very-high-resolution satellite data. Thiessen polygons were automatically created in a geographic information system (GIS) environment to reconstruct relict ice-wedge polygonal networks from baydzherakh center-point patterns. This information was combined with literature or own field data of individual ice-wedge sizes, to generate three-dimensional subsurface models that distinguish between epi- and syngenetic ice-wedge geometry. We demonstrate that the WIV can vary considerably, not only between different permafrost regions, but also within a certain study site. Detailed information about methods and results can be found in the publication to which this dataset is a supplement (https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1810).

Description: These five cores were obtained from a terrestrial permafrost area in northeastern Siberia (U1: March 2019; B3, B2, B1, U3: July 2019) during the Chersky 2019 field campaign. This campaign was part of both the CACOON and the PeCHEc project and was based at the Northeast Science Station in Chersky, Sakha, Russia (RU-LAND-2019/CHERSKIY; 02.07.2019 - 19.07.2019). They were taken from the area of the Pleistocene Park experiment (Zimov, 2005; doi:10.1126/science.1113442) and cover areas of a drained thermokarst lake basin (B) as well as the adjacent Yedoma uplands (U). The cores were drilled in areas of different large herbivore impact intensities (3= intensive; 2= extensive; 1= no animal presence). The data are used in a study exermining the impact of large herbivore presence on permafrost stability, vegetation composition and ground carbon storage. The active layer was sampled excavating profiles with a spade using fixed volume cylinders on the profile wall (250 ccm). The frozen ground was sampled using a SIPRE permafrost auger with a Stihl motor. All samples taken from these cores were analyzed between January 2020 and March 2021 at the facilities of AWI. The samples were analyzed for water/ice content, water isotopes, pH, conductivity, DOC, TC, TN, TOC, δ13C, mass specific magnetic susceptibility, grain size composition and radiocarbon age. Water/ice content was derived from weight differences before and after freeze-drying the samples. Water isotope ratios (δ18O, δ2H, d excess), pH, conductivity and DOC were measured using pore water extracted from the sediment samples using Rhizone samplers. Water isotopes were measured at AWI Potsdam Stable Isotope Laboratory using a Finnigan MAT Delta-S mass spectrometer. DOC was measured at AWI Potsdam Hydrochemistry Laboratory using a Shimadzu TOC-V CPH Total Organic Carbon Analyzer. TC and TN were measured at AWI Potsdam CARLA Laboratory using a vario EL III Element Analyzer. TOC was measured at the same laboratory using a varioMAX C Element Analyzer. δ13C was measured at AWI Potsdam Stable Isotope Laboratory using a Delta V Advantage Isotope Ratio MS supplement equipped with a Flash 2000 Organic Elemental Analyzer. Mass specific magnetic susceptibility was measured using a Bartington MS-2 Magnetic Susceptibility System. Grain size composition was determined using a Malvern Mastersizer 3000 equipped with a Malvern Hydro LV wet-sample dispersion unit. Statistics were calculated for this using Gradistat 8.0. Radiocarbon dating was carried out using the Mini Carbon Dating System (MICADAS) at AWI Bremerhaven.

Description: Radiocarbon dating was carried out using the Mini Carbon Dating System (MICADAS) at AWI Bremerhaven.

Description: Water/ice content was derived from weight differences before and after freeze-drying the samples. Water isotope ratios (δ18O, δ2H, d excess), pH, conductivity and DOC were measured using pore water extracted from the sediment samples using Rhizone samplers. Water isotopes were measured at AWI Potsdam Stable Isotope Laboratory using a Finnigan MAT Delta-S mass spectrometer. DOC was measured at AWI Potsdam Hydrochemistry Laboratory using a Shimadzu TOC-V CPH Total Organic Carbon Analyzer.

Description: Mass specific magnetic susceptibility was measured using a Bartington MS-2 Magnetic Susceptibility System. Grain size composition was determined using a Malvern Mastersizer 3000 equipped with a Malvern Hydro LV wet-sample dispersion unit. Statistics were calculated for this using Gradistat 8.0.

Description: Polygonal systems formed by thermal contraction cracking are complex landscape features widespread in terrestrial periglacial regions. The manner in which cracking occurs is controlled by various environmental factors and determines dimension, shape, and orientation of polygons. We studied the geomorphometry of polygonally-patterned ground on Svalbard to draw a terrestrial analogy to small-scale polygonal structures on Mars. We performed a comparative quantitative terrain analysis based on high-resolution stereo remote-sensing data (i.e., HRSC-AX, HiRISE) in combination with terrestrial field data and multivariate statistics to determine the relationship of polygon geomorphometry to local environmental conditions. Results show that polygonal structures on Svalbard and in Utopia Planitia, Mars, are similar with respect to their size and shape. A comparable thermal contraction cracking genesis is likely. Polygon evolution, however, is strongly related to regional and local landscape dynamics. Individual polygon dimensions and orthogonality vary according to age, thermal contraction cracking activity, and local subsurface conditions. This dataset contains polygonal network data from 8 sites on Svalbard in shapefile format: Act-IWS = Active Ice-Wedge site Adventdalen (AD1) AD2 to AD4 = Adventdalen sites 2 to 4 IWS = Ice-wedge site Adventdalen CALM = Circumarctic Active-Layer Monitoring polygon site Adventdalen HCP = High Center Polygons site Adventdalen Isdammen = location Isdammen site Adventdalen Detailed information about methods and results can be found in the publication to which this dataset is a supplement (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.07.002).