Advances in retrogressive thaw slump research in permafrost regions

Abstract

A retrogressive thaw slump (RTS) is a slope failure formed by slope thaw settlement and retrogressive slump following the thawing of ice‐rich permafrost or the melting of massive ice. Here, we review recent literature on RTSs, one of the main geomorphological landscapes developed in the process of permafrost degradation. The main topics are as follows: development and temporal evolution, mechanisms and processes, influencing factors, evaluation susceptibility and calculation, and assessment of engineering and environmental impacts. There has been a rapid increase in the number and distribution area of RTSs over permafrost in recent years. Climate warming events, extreme rainfall, forest fires, bank and coast erosion, and anthropogenic activity are the primary factors leading to RTSs in permafrost regions, disrupting the initial hydrothermal equilibrium of permafrost slopes. This causes a rise in ground temperature and the thaw of ice‐rich permafrost. Meltwater seeps down and collects on the ice surface, weakening freeze–thaw interface shear resistance and resulting in soil collapse. The development of RTSs may last several decades or longer. RTSs destabilize infrastructure, destroy vegetation, boost soil erosion and land desertification, alter the environment of nearby waters, and increase emissions of some major greenhouse gases. Numerous methods have been developed and adopted to explore RTSs, including geographic information systems (GIS) and equilibrium, numerical, and reliability analysis methods. However, research on formation mechanisms and processes, quantitative prediction, engineering and environmental influences, and mitigative measures of RTSs under a warming climate are still inadequate. Existing research methods, such as numerical simulations, remote sensing, airborne ground‐based geophysical surveys, investigations and mapping, and hydrothermal and deformation field monitoring, should be systematically integrated. Additionally, equipment for laboratory testing and numerical models for simulating RTSs may need to be timely introduced and better developed.