An original approach to Arctic erosion

There are many traditional uses of seal oil: as a dipping sauce, stew flavoring, and an ingredient in medicine, to name a few. But could it also be a fix for eroding Arctic coastlines? 

“In some cases, communities have observed that traditional marine mammal harvest sites appear more resistant to erosion,” observed University of Alaska Anchorage professor of civil engineering Tom Ravens. “That raises the question—could natural additives like seal oil be strengthening the soils?”

That intriguing query is one of many that Ravens and his research team hope to address through an ongoing Alaska Sea Grant-funded research project. The team includes UAA graduate students George Payne and Noah Goltz, UAA engineering faculty Joey Yang, University of Alaska Fairbanks permafrost researcher Dmitry Nicolsky and anthropologist Anne Garland of the nonprofit Applied Research in Environmental Sciences (ARIES). They’re combining novel laboratory experiments, advanced mathematical modeling, field data and local knowledge from the community of Utqiaġvik to develop tools and strategies to mitigate erosion along Alaska’s Arctic coast.

“We’re working to create solutions that are practical, affordable and rooted in what Arctic communities know about their land and sea,” Ravens said. “It’s about building resilience for the long term.”

Accelerating coastal erosion is endangering homes, infrastructure and traditional lands across Alaska, including in Utqiaġvik, where erosion and flooding have spurred the ongoing construction of a $400 million seawall. But Ravens said existing technologies often fail to account for unique Arctic factors, like how ocean heat transfers to permafrost. Moreover, he noted, researchers have yet to fully explore promising nature-based strategies.

The centerpiece of the project is an Arctic wave flume, a device that can simulate Arctic coastal erosion in a controlled laboratory environment. The flume mimics the interaction between natural wave movements and frozen beach permafrost, enabling researchers to test various strategies to mitigate erosion, such as thermosiphons, solar reflectors and soil additives. The research team created the 30-foot long flume by modifying an existing open channel flume at UAA, including incorporating permafrost soil created in the campus’ Cold Room.

“The Arctic wave flume is a remarkable achievement,” said Ravens. “To our knowledge, it’s one of only two Arctic-specific wave flumes in the world, and the only one designed to explore potential remedies for coastal erosion.”

The researchers are complementing the lab testing witha computer model to explore how Arctic coastlines erode over time. They’re working with a modified version of an existing open-source tool called XBeach, which scientists use to study how waves shape beaches and shorelines. The updated version, called Arctic XBeach, includes a thermal component that calculates how heat moves through frozen sediment. This enhanced model helps researchers see how waves, warming temperatures and permafrost thaw interact to erode coastal bluffs, and how different protection strategies might perform in the long run. The model even incorporates how sunlight strikes and warms bluff faces, a key factor driving thaw and erosion in the region. 

The team is using historical shoreline data (2013–2023) from Utqiaġvik, specifically the community’s Egasak neighborhood, to calibrate the Arctic XBeach model. Significantly, they’re also engaging with Utqiaġvik residents to ensure that the final design reflects both environmental realities and local community priorities. Ravens said it was this community input that inspired the team to test whether seal oil or other natural additives can help strengthen frozen soils and reduce erosion. 

The next step is for the researchers to combine the modeling with field data from Utqiaġvik to inform the design of a preliminary nature-based coastal protection system. “Our early work helped us understand what’s driving coastal erosion and flooding in Arctic regions,” said Ravens. “It was like diagnosing a disease. Now we’re moving into the next phase, which is testing treatments that we hope will reduce the damage and build resilience.”

The project builds on a previous Alaska Sea Grant award to Ravens and colleagues to support a network of citizen observers of sand berm erosion in Utqiaġvik. Ravens said that project alerted researchers to the thermal conditions contributing to coastal erosion, and inspired them to develop both the laboratory and theoretical work of the current effort.