During the winter of 2016, anomalous sea ice conditions and a powerful storm culminated in a destructive erosion event along the Chukchi Sea coastline of Cape Espenberg, Alaska. This event is commonly referred to as an “ice push” or “ivu,” the Inupiat word for an ice ridging event. In this article, we report the process and impact of this event by combining traditional ecological knowledge, news accounts, meteorological data, remote sensing, and ground surveys. The midwinter detachment of shorefast ice was caused by a low-pressure system and wind-driven swell that destabilized shorefast ice, while northerly winds developed an open-water lead offshore to the eventual impact area. These conditions preceded the impact of an extratropical cyclone on December 31, 2016, when powerful southerly winds and the second largest storm surge in Kotzebue Sound since at least 2003 led to the compressional failure of the ice cover under uniaxial loading perpendicular to the southern coastline of the Cape, resulting in the ice push event. Ice-pushed debris was shoved up to 6.2 m above mean high water, with ∼3.5 km of coastline experiencing net erosion. The largest accumulation of ice-pushed debris had a volume of 1,000 m³, and rose 3 + m above the surrounding ground surface even after roughly 6 months of melting. On low-lying areas, driftwood and other debris were deposited 130 m landward by the surge 5.0 m above mean high water, indicating the potential threat of such events to property, infrastructure, and, in this case, archeological sites and associated cultural resources. The anomalous environmental and sea ice conditions that preceded the ivu seem to suggest that such events may occur more frequently in a warmer Arctic.

2016年冬季，异常的海冰条件和一场强风暴导致阿拉斯加海角埃斯彭贝格的楚科奇海海岸线发生破坏性侵蚀事件。此事件通常被称为“刨冰”或“ ivu”，是因冰激凌事件引起的Inupiat词。在本文中，我们通过结合传统的生态知识，新闻报道，气象数据，遥感和地面调查来报告这一事件的过程和影响。海岸冰坚冰的寒冬脱离是由低压系统和风浪引起的，它使海岸冰坚稳，而北风则在海上向最终冲击区形成了一条开阔水带。这些条件是在2016年12月31日发生温带气旋之前，至少自2003年以来，强劲的南风和第二次Kotzebue Sound风暴潮导致在垂直于开普省南部海岸线的单轴载荷下，冰盖的压缩破坏，从而导致了推冰事件。冰推碎屑被推高至平均水位以上6.2 m，约3.5 km的海岸线受到净侵蚀。最大量的冰碎屑堆积物为1,000 m³，即使融化了大约6个月，仍比周围地面高出3 + m。在低洼地区，由于平均水位高出5.0 m的浪涌，漂流木和其他碎片被沉积在向内130 m处，这表明此类事件对财产，基础设施以及在这种情况下对考古遗址和相关文化资源的潜在威胁。ivu之前的异常环境和海冰条件似乎表明，此类事件可能在更温暖的北极地区更频繁地发生。