Permafrost Detachment Slides: A new type of Arctic collapse phenomenon

Warming tundra produces another surprise consequence

WHEN LONG TERM ICE MELTS, THE LAND ITSELF BECOMES DESTABILIZED.

Over the past two decades, the landforms of the Arctic have been transforming in multiple ways, some of which are spectacular in the tree falling in the forest sense. That is, there is almost never anyone there to see them. Among the most visible are megaslumps which we have cover here previously and the heartbreaking Nepal catastrophe of August 2026. All of these things are related. 

The most recently discovered phenomena are called permafrost detachment slides. According to a paper published Sept. 23 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, these slides occur in areas with relatively thin permafrost. They are most likely a long-term impact of wildfire in sub-polar regions across the Arctic. In the paper. Joseph Young of the University of Alberta, this type of slide haw not been observed previously. 

“Typically with permafrost, everything just thaws and melts in a slurry and moves like a mud downslope,” Young said. “But with these large landslides, we found blocks of frozen material in the debris.” – Joseph Young, University of Alberta

Some of these blocks were 33 feet tall. The larger of the two detachment slides examined in the study scraped a two mile scar out of the hillside.