University of Alaska Fairbanks students will return to several Bristol Bay communities this year to continue quantifying and mapping widespread coastal erosion.
Students in the Arctic Coastal Geoscience Lab of the UAF Geophysical Institute have been trudging through mud and scrambling over the debris of slumped-off bluffs in the region since 2016.
Their research is building a powerful resource for understanding and managing the local erosion, which can be caused by forces such as natural water channel movement, heavy snowmelt runoff and a warming climate that thaws permafrost, reduces sea ice and brings more and stronger storms.
“The data that we're collecting is usually the only data that exists for these areas,” said associate professor Chris Maio, who oversees the research at the Arctic Coastal Geoscience Lab.
Read more at University of Alaska Fairbanks
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