Exploring the capabilities of electrical resistivity tomography to study subsea permafrost

Abstract. Sea level rise and coastal erosion have inundated large areas of Arctic permafrost. Submergence by warm saline waters increases the rate permafrost thaw compared to sub-aerial thawing on land. Studying contact between unfrozen frozen sediments below seabed, also known as ice-bearing table (IBPT), provides valuable information understand evolution sub-aquatic permafrost, which is key improving understanding prediction models potential greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we use data from 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) collected in nearshore zone two regions that differ their environmental conditions (e.g., seawater depth resistivity) image study subsea The inversion ERT sets commonly performed using deterministic approaches favor smoothed solutions, are typically interpreted a user-specified threshold identify IBPT position. contrast, target position directly during inversion, layer-based model parameterization global optimization approach invert our data. This results ensembles layered estimate sediments, including estimates uncertainties. Additionally, globally 1D synthetic perform sensitivity analyses simpler way, correlations influences parameters. set methods provided may help further exploit such environments well for design future field experiments.