Brief communication: Testing a portable Bullard-type temperature lance confirms highly spatially heterogeneous sediment temperatures under shallow bodies of water in the Arctic

Abstract

The thermal regime in the sediment column below shallow bodies of water in Arctic permafrost controls benthic habitats and permafrost stability. We present a robust, portable device that measures detailed temperature–depth profiles of the near-surface sediments in less than 1 h. Test campaigns in the Canadian Arctic and on Svalbard have demonstrated its utility in a range of environments during winter and summer. Measured temperatures were spatially heterogeneous, even within single bodies of water. We observed the broadest temperature range in water less than 1 m deep, a zone that is not captured by single measurements in deeper water.