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Laterally discontinuous subsea permafrost is present in the Arctic along the Beaufort Sea margin. Discontinuities within the permafrost include unfrozen zones from which fluids are free to migrate vertically or laterally, potentially accelerating permafrost degradation. This process releases greenhouse gases that further contribute to global warming. Generally, because of its contrasting viscoelastic properties compared to unfrozen sediments, permafrost can be easily detected by seismic methods. A discontinuity in subsea permafrost corresponds to the termination of a frozen layer. At this termination, seismic energy is diffracted rather than reflected or refracted. This condition is well suited for diffraction imaging. Here, we present a processing workflow to identify subsea permafrost discontinuities using the diffracted wavefield. This workflow aims to extract diffractions from seismic data collected on the continental shelf of the Canadian Beaufort Sea. The shallow water environment combined with the occurrence of subsea permafrost generates highly energetic free surface multiples that overprinted diffractions. Thus, preliminary steps of the processing flow focused on multiple attenuation. A recursive velocity analysis, starting with a 100 common-midpoint (CMP) interval and ending with a 5 CMP interval, is also performed to better capture lateral permafrost discontinuities. Then, the full wavefield data are migrated, collapsing the energy distributed along the hyperbolic trajectory of the diffractions at their apexes. Afterwards, reflections are adaptively subtracted from the migrated data. Finally, demigration of the residuals (i.e., collapsed diffractions) is performed. The resulting image reveals several near-surface diffractions attributed to discontinuities at the top of the subsea permafrost. Diffractions present distinct amplitude, frequency and velocity characteristics suggesting that various permafrost conditions coexist across the continental shelf.

High-resolution seafloor mapping provides insights into the dynamics of past ice sheets/ice shelves on high-latitude continental margins. Geological/geophysical studies in the Arctic Ocean suggest widespread Pleistocene ice grounding on the Chukchi–East Siberian continental margin. However, flow directions, timing, and behavior of these ice masses are not yet clear due to insufficient data. We present a combined seismostratigraphic and morphobathymetric analysis of the Chukchi Rise off the northwestern Chukchi margin using the densely acquired subbottom profiler (SBP) and multibeam echosounder (MBES) data. Comparison with deeper airgun seismic records shows that the SBP data cover most of the glaciogenic stratigraphy possibly spanning ca. 0.5–1Ma. Based on the stratigraphic distribution and geometry of acoustically transparent glaciogenic diamictons, the lateral and vertical extent of southern- sourced grounded ice became smaller over time. The older deposits are abundant as debris lobes on the slope contributing to a large trough mouth fan, whereas younger grounding-zone wedges are found at shallower depths. MBES data show two sets of mega-scale lineations indicating at least two fast ice- streaming events of different ages. Contour-parallel recessional morainic ridges mark a stepwise retreat of the grounded ice margin, likely controlled by rising sea levels during deglaciation(s). The different inferred advance and retreat directions of the southern-sourced ice reflect complex geomorphic settings. The overall picture shows that the Chukchi Rise was an area where different ice streams had complex interactions. In addition to glaciogenic deposits, we identify a number of related or preceding seabed features including mounds, gullies/channels, and sediment waves.

Climate change in the Arctic has recently become a major scientific issue, and detailed information on the degradation of subsea permafrost on continental shelves in the Arctic is critical for understanding the major cause and effects of global warming, especially the release of greenhouse gases. The subsea permafrost at shallow depths beneath the Arctic continental shelves has significantly higher P‐wave velocities than the surrounding sediments. The distribution of subsea permafrost on Arctic continental shelves has been studied since the 1970s using seismic refraction methods. With seismic refraction data, the seismic velocity and the depth of the upper boundary of subsea permafrost can be determined. However, it is difficult to identify the lower boundary and the internal shape of permafrost. Here, we present two‐dimensional P‐wave velocity models of the continental shelf in the Beaufort Sea by applying the Laplace‐domain full‐waveform inversion method to acquired multichannel seismic reflection data. With the inverted P‐wave velocity model, we identify anomalous high seismic velocities that originated from the subsea permafrost. Information on the two‐dimensional distribution of subsea permafrost on the Arctic continental shelf area, including the upper and lower bounds of subsea permafrost, are presented. Also, the two‐dimensional P‐wave velocity model allows us to estimate the thawing pattern and the shape of subsea permafrost structures. Our proposed P‐wave velocity models were verified by comparison with the previous distribution map of subsea permafrost from seismic refraction analyses, geothermal modeling, and well‐log data.