Permafrost on Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago and Wiese Island, Russian High Arctic.

Climate conditions largely control the properties and distribution of permafrost. Its sensitivity to warming makes it a valuable indicator of ongoing climate change. This is especially true for High Latitudes, where climate warming accelerates at the highest rates worldwide. However, little is known about permafrost conditions, its properties and features on the High Arctic Islands, the northernmost land where permafrost occurs. For the first time, the present study summarizes Soviet literature data, recent drilling and other observation data of periglacial landforms, ground temperatures, cryostratigraphy and ground ice properties (including stable water isotope data, partly obtained during the Arctic Century Expedition in 2021) on the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago and adjacent Wiese Island in the Russian High Arctic. The study provides baseline information on High Arctic permafrost to encourage and promote further investigations of the state and dynamics of warming permafrost.