Media and publications

Read our media engagement and publications on all things permafrost.

Media engagement

Our research has been featured across traditional and new media, as in the following examples:

'Giant Siberian "Gateway to Hell" has tripled in size and scientists believe "we can learn" a lot from it'. UNILAD (2024)

'Earth's "Gateway to Hell" is growing'. Popular Science (2024)

'Giant, 90ft deep craters are appearing on the Arctic seafloor'. Newsweek (2022)

'The Great Siberian Thaw'. The New Yorker (2022)

'Siberia's enormous hole in the ground is getting bigger'. BBC (2020)

'Thawing Arctic permafrost could cause cause 30,000 active landslides on one small Canadian island every year in the future'. Newsweek (2019)

Publications

Find out about the latest findings in permafrost science in our researchers' academic articles.

2025

Friggens, N. L., Hugelius, G., Kokelj, S. V., Murton, J., Phoenix, G. K., & Hartley, I. P. (2025). Positive rhizosphere priming accelerates carbon release from permafrost soils. Nature Communications, 16(1), pages. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-58845-9
Article. View on figshare.
Lupachev, A. V., Tananaev, N. I., Murton, J., Kalinin, P. I., Malyshev, V. V., & Danilov, P. P. (2025). Microstructure and geochemical properties of modern and buried soils and hosting permafrost sediments of the Batagay retrogressive thaw slump. Quaternary Research (United States), 1-21. doi:10.1017/qua.2024.58
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., Opel, T., Toms, P., Wood, J., Boxleitner, K., Savvinov, G., . . . Tikhonravova, Y. (2025). Preliminary paleoenvironmental analysis and luminescence dating of upper Middle Pleistocene permafrost deposits of the Ulakhan Sular Formation, Adycha River, east Siberia. Quaternary Research (United States), 124, 1-25. doi:10.1017/qua.2024.36
Article. View on figshare.
Friggens, N. L., England, N., Murton, J., Phoenix, G. K., & Hartley, I. P. (2025). BLOSOM: A Plant Growth Facility Optimised for Continuous <sup>13</sup>C Labelling and Measurement of Soil Organic Matter Dynamics. European Journal of Soil Science, 76(1), pages. doi:10.1111/ejss.70042
Article. View on figshare.

2024

Burn, C. R., Bartsch, A., Chakraborty, E., Das, S., Frauenfelder, R., Gärtner‐Roer, I., . . . Yarmak, E. (2024). Developments in Permafrost Science and Engineering in Response to Climate Warming in Circumpolar and High Mountain Regions, 2019–2024. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, pages. doi:10.1002/ppp.2261
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J. (2024). Ice wedges and related structures. In Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (pp. 154-202). Elsevier. doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-99931-1.00172-0
Chapter. View on figshare.
Bennett, J., Cullingford, R., Gibbard, P., Hughes, P., & Murton, J. (2024). The Quaternary geology of Devon. Geoscience in South-West England, 84-130.
Article. View on figshare.
Giles, D., & Murton, J. (2024). Bedrock disturbances. In Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (pp. 356-376). Elsevier. doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-99931-1.00086-6
Chapter. View on figshare.
Murton, J. (2024). Reconstructing Younger Dryas ground temperature and snow thickness from cave deposits. Climate of the Past, 20(7), 1521-1535. doi:10.5194/cp-20-1521-2024
Article. View on figshare.
Uxa, T., Křížek, M., Krause, D., Moska, P., & Murton, J. (2024). Optically-stimulated-luminescence ages and paleo-environmental implications of relict frost wedges in north–central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 35(3), 294-383. doi:10.1002/ppp.2241
Article. View on figshare.
McSorley-Morgan, F., Murton, J., Barlow, J., & Veremeeva, A. (2024). GIS analysis of lake and basin orientation, Yana–Indigirka Lowland, northeast Siberia. Geomorphology, 452, 109108. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2024.109108
Article. View on figshare.

2023

Rodríguez-López, J. P., Liesa, C. L., Luzón, A., Muñoz, A., Mayayo, M. J., Murton, J., & Soria, A. R. (2024). Ice-rafted dropstones at midlatitudes in the Cretaceous of continental Iberia. Geology, 52(1), 33-38. doi:10.1130/g51725.1
Article. View on figshare.
Dzieduszyńska, D. A., Petera-Zganiacz, J., Murton, J., & Barlow, J. (2023). Dry valleys and dells. In Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences (3 ed., pp. pages). Elsevier. doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-99931-1.00069-6
Chapter. View on figshare.
Murton, J., Opel, T., Wetterich, S., Ashastina, K., Savvinov, G., Danilov, P., & Boeskorov, V. (2023). Batagay megaslump: A review of the permafrost deposits, Quaternary environmental history, and recent development. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 34(3), 399-416. doi:10.1002/ppp.2194
Article. View on figshare.
Xia, G., Wu, C., Mansour, A., Jin, X., Yi, H., Li, G., . . . Lopez, J. P. R. (2023). Eocene-Oligocene glaciation on a high central Tibetan Plateau. Geology, pages. doi:10.1130/g51104.1
Article. View on figshare.
Stevens, R., Reade, H., Sayle, K., Tripp, J., Frémondeau, D., Lister, A., . . . Higham, T. (2023). Major excursions in sulfur isotopes linked to permafrost change in Eurasia during the last 50,000 Years.. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2556240/v1
Preprint. View online.

2022

Rodríguez-López, J. P., Wu, C., Vishnivetskaya, T. A., Murton, J., Tang, W., & Ma, C. (2022). Permafrost in the Cretaceous supergreenhouse. Nature Communications, 13, e7946 1-15. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35676-6
Article. View on figshare.
Courtin, J., Perfumo, A., Andreev, A. A., Opel, T., Stoof-Leichsenring, K. R., Edwards, M., . . . Herzchuh, U. (2022). Pleistocene glacial and interglacial ecosystems inferred from ancient DNA analyses of permafrost sediments from Batagay megaslump, East Siberia. Environmental DNA, pages. doi:10.1002/edn3.336
Article. View on figshare.
Zhang, J., Murton, J., Cane, T., Maji, V., Sui, L., Liu, S., & Zhang, S. (2022). Evaluation of freezing state of sandstone using ultrasonic time-frequency characteristics. Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, pages. doi:10.1016/j.jrmge.2022.04.013
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J. (2022). Ground ice. In Treatise on Geomorphology (Vol. 4, pp. 428-457). Elsevier. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-818234-5.00114-0
Chapter. View on figshare.
Murton, J. (2022). Cryostratigraphy. In Treatise on Geomorphology (Vol. 4, pp. 458-490). Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-818234-5.00115-2
Chapter. View on figshare.

2021

Murton, J., Opel, T., Toms, P., Blinov, A., Fuchs, M., Wood, J., . . . Wetterich, S. (2021). A multimethod dating study of ancient permafrost, Batagay megaslump, east Siberia. Quaternary Research, 1-22. doi:10.1017/qua.2021.27
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., & Maji, V. (2021). Experimental observations and statistical modelling of crack propagation dynamics in limestone by acoustic emission analysis during freezing and thawing. doi:10.1002/essoar.10506327.1
Preprint. View online.
Murton, J. (2021). What and where are periglacial landscapes?. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 1-27. doi:10.1002/PPP.2102
Article. View on figshare.

2020

Murton, J. (2020). Periglacial processes and deposits. In Encyclopedia of Geology, 2nd edition (pp. 857-875). Amsterdam: Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11925-6
Chapter. View on figshare.
Zhang, J. -W., Murton, J., Liu, S. -J., Sui, L. -L., & Zhang, S. (2020). Detection of the freezing state and frozen section thickness of fine sand by ultrasonic testing. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 1-16. doi:10.1002/ppp.2075
Article. View on figshare.
Wolfe, S., Murton, J., Bateman, M., & Barlow, J. (2020). Oriented-lake development in the context of late Quaternary landscape evolution, McKinley Bay Coastal Plain, western Arctic Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews, 242, pages. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106414
Article. View on figshare.
Zhang, J. -W., Murton, J., Liu, S. -J., Zhang, S., Wang, L., Kong, L. -H., & Ding, H. (2020). Sensitivity and regression analysis of acoustic parameters for determining physical properties of frozen fine sand with ultrasonic test. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, pages. doi:10.1144/qjegh2020-021
Article. View on figshare.
Maji, V., & Murton, J. (2020). Experimental observations that simulated active-layer deepening drives deeper rock fracture. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 1-15. doi:10.1002/ppp.2041
Article. View on figshare.

2019

Maji, V., & Murton, J. (2019). Micro-computed tomography imaging and probabilistic modelling of rock fracture by freeze–thaw. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, pages. doi:10.1002/esp.4764
Article. View on figshare.
Opel, T., Murton, J., Wetterich, S., Meyer, H., Ashastina, K., Günther, F., . . . Schirrmeister, L. (2019). Past climate and continentality inferred from ice wedges at Batagay megaslump in the Northern Hemisphere’s most continental region, Yana Highlands, interior Yakutia. Climate of the Past, 15, 1443-1461. doi:10.5194/cp-15-1443-2019
Article. View on figshare.

2018

Murton, J. (2018). Frost weathering of chalk. In Engineering in Chalk: Proceedings of the Chalk 2018 Conference (pp. pages). Imperial College, London, UK: Ice Publishing. doi:10.1680/eiccf.64072.497
Conference publication. View on figshare.
Opel, T., Meyer, H., Wetterich, S., Laepple, T., Dereviagin, A., & Murton, J. (2018). Ice wedges as archives of winter palaeoclimate: a review. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 29(3), 199-209. doi:10.1002/ppp.1980
Article. View on figshare.

2017

Estop-Aragonés, C., Cooper, M. D. A., Fisher, J. P., Thierry, A., Garnett, M. H., Charman, D. J., . . . Hartley, I. P. (2017). Limited release of previously-frozen C and increased new peat formation after thaw in permafrost peatlands. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 118, 115-129. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.12.010
Article. View on figshare.
Cooper, M. D. A., Estop-Aragonés, C., Fisher, J. P., Thierry, A., Garnett, M. H., Charman, D. J., . . . Hartley, I. P. (2017). Limited contribution of permafrost carbon to methane release from thawing peatlands. Nature Climate Change, 7, 501-511. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE3328
Article. View on figshare.
Opel, T., Wetterich, S., Meyer, H., Dereviagin, A. Y., Fuchs, M. C., & Schirrmeister, L. (2017). Ground-ice stable isotopes and cryostratigraphy reflect late Quaternary palaeoclimate in the Northeast Siberian Arctic (Oyogos Yar coast, Dmitry Laptev Strait). Climate of the Past, 13, 587-611. doi:10.5194/cp-13-587-2017
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., Bateman, M. D., Telka, A. M., Waller, R., Whiteman, C., & Kuzmina, S. (2017). Early to Mid Wisconsin fluvial deposits and palaeoenvironment of the Kidluit Formation, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, western Arctic Canada. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 28(3), 523-533. doi:10.1002/ppp.1946
Article. View on figshare.
Grieman, M. M., Aydin, M., Fritzsche, D., McConnell, J. R., Opel, T., Sigl, M., & Saltzman, E. S. (2017). Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2,600-year proxy record of biomass burning. Climate of the Past, 13, 395-410. doi:10.5194/cp-13-395-2017
Article. View on figshare.
Opel, T., Laepple, T., Meyer, H., Dereviagin, A. Y., & Wetterich, S. (2017). Northeast Siberian ice wedges confirm Arctic winter warming over the past two millennia. Holocene, 27(11), 1789-1796. doi:10.1177/0959683617702229
Article. View on figshare.
von Albedyl, L., Opel, T., Fritzsche, D., Merchel, S., Laepple, T., & Rugel, G. (2017). 10Be in the Akademii Nauk ice core – first results for CE 1590-1950 and implications for future chronology validation. Journal of Glaciology, 63(239), 514-522. doi:10.1017/jog.2017.19
Article. View on figshare.
Giles, D. P., Griffiths, J. S., Evans, D. J. A., & Murton, J. (2017). Geomorphological framework: glacial and periglacial sediments, structures and landforms. In Engineering Geology and Geomorphology of Glaciated and Periglaciated Terrains – Engineering Group Working Party Report (Vol. 28, pp. 59-368). London: Geological Society. doi:10.1144/EGSP28.3
Chapter. View on figshare.
Murton, J., & Ballantyne, C. K. (2017). Periglacial and permafrost ground models for Great Britain. In Engineering Geology and Geomorphology of Glaciated and Periglaciated Terrains – Engineering Group Working Party Report (Vol. 28, pp. 501-597). London: Geological Society. doi:10.1144/EGSP28.5
Chapter. View on figshare.

2016

Murton, J., Kuras, O., Krautblatter, M., Cane, T., Tschofen, D., Uhlemann, S., . . . Watson, P. (2016). Monitoring rock freezing and thawing by novel geoelectrical and acoustic techniques. Journal of Geophysical Research, 121(12), 2309-2332. doi:10.1002/2016JF003948
Article. View on figshare.
Gilbert, G. L., Kanevskiy, M., & Murton, J. (2016). Special Issue: Recent advances (2008 – 2015) in the study of ground ice and cryostratigraphy. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 27(4), 377-389. doi:10.1002/ppp.1912
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., Ozouf, J. -C., & Peterson, R. (2016). Heave, settlement and fracture of chalk during physical modelling experiments with temperature cycling above and below 0°C. Geomorphology, 270, 71-87. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.07.016
Article. View on figshare.
Fisher, J. P., Estop-Aragones, C., Thierry, A., Charman, D. J., Wolfe, S. A., Hartley, I. P., . . . Phoenix, G. K. (2016). The influence of vegetation and soil characteristics on active-layer thickness of permafrost soils in boreal forest. Global Change Biology, 22(9), 3127-3140. doi:10.1111/gcb.13248
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., & Giles, D. P. (2016). The quaternary periglaciation of Kent: field guide. Quaternary Research Association.
Book. View on figshare.

2015

Murton, J., Goslar, T., Edwards, M. E., Bateman, M. D., Danilov, P. P., Savvinov, G. N., . . . Wolfe, S. A. (2015). Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of yedoma silt (ice complex) deposition as cold-climate loess, Duvanny Yar, northeast Siberia. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 26(3), 208-288. doi:10.1002/ppp.1843
Article. View on figshare.

2013

Murton, J. (2013). Ice wedges and ice-wedge casts. In Encyclopedia of quaternary science (Vol. 3, pp. 436-451). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Chapter. View on figshare.
Murton, J. (2013). Ground ice and cryostratigraphy. In Treatise on geomorphology.Glacial and periglacial geomorphology (Vol. 8, pp. 173-201). Dan Diego: Academic Press.
Chapter. View on figshare.

2011

Waller, R., Phillips, E., Murton, J., Lee, J., & Whiteman, C. (2011). Sand intraclasts as evidence of subglacial deformation of Middle Pleistocene permafrost, north Norfolk, UK. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(23-24), 3481-3500. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.07.011
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., & Belshaw, R. K. (2011). A conceptual model of valley incision, planation and terrace formation during cold and arid permafrost conditions of Pleistocene southern England. Quaternary Research, 75(2), 385-394. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2010.10.002
Article. View on figshare.

2010

Bateman, M. D., Murton, J., & Boulter, C. (2010). The source of De variability in periglacial sand wedges: Depositional processes versus measurement issues. Quaternary Geochronology, 5(2-3), 250-256. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2009.03.007
Article. View on figshare.

2008

Harris, C., Kern-Luetschg, M., Murton, J., Font, M., Davies, M., & Smith, F. (2008). Solifluction processes on permafrost and non-permafrost slopes: results of a large-scale laboratory simulation. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 19(4), 359-378. doi:10.1002/ppp.630
Article. View on figshare.
Matsuoka, N., & Murton, J. (2008). Frost weathering: recent advances and future directions. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 19(2), 195-210. doi:10.1002/ppp.620
Article. View on figshare.

2006

Murton, J. (2006). Ice wedges and ice-wedge casts. In Encyclopedia of quaternary sciences (pp. 2154-2169). Elsevier Science.
Chapter. View on figshare.
Murton, J., Peterson, R., & Ozouf, J. -C. (2006). Bedrock fracture by ice segregation in cold regions. Science, 314(5802), 1127-1129. doi:10.1126/science.1132127
Article. View on figshare.
Bateman, M. D., & Murton, J. (2006). The Chronostratigraphy of Late Pleistocene glacial and periglacial aeolian activity in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, NWT, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews, 25, 2552-2568.
Article. View on figshare.

2005

Harris, C., Murton, J., & Davies, M. C. R. (2005). An analysis of mechanisms of ice-wedge casting based on geotechnical centrifuge simulations. Geomorphology, 71(3-4), 328-343. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.03.006
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., Whiteman, C. A., Waller, R. I., Pollard, W. H., Clark, I. D., & Dallimore, S. R. (2005). Basal ice facies and supraglacial melt-out till of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, western Arctic Canada.. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24, 681-708. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.06.008
Article. View on figshare.

2004

Murton, J., Waller, R. I., Hart, J. K., Whiteman, C. A., Pollard, W. H., & Clark, I. D. (2004). Stratigraphy and glaciotectonic structures of permafrost deformed beneath the northwest margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Canada.. Journal of Glaciology, 50(170), 399-412. doi:10.3189/172756504781829927
Article. View on figshare.

2003

Murton, J., Bateman, M. D., Baker, C. A., Knox, R., & Whiteman, C. A. (2003). The Devensian periglacial record on Thanet, Kent, UK.. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 14(3), 217-246. doi:10.1002/ppp.442
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., & Kolstrup, E. (2003). Ice-wedge casts as indicators of palaeotemperatures: precise proxy or wishful thinking?. Progress in Physical Geography, 27, 155-170. doi:10.1191/0309133303pp365ra
Article. View on figshare.

2001

Murton, J., Coutard, J. -P., Lautridou, J. -P., Ozouf, J. -C., Robinson, D. A., & Williams, R. B. G. (2001). Physical modelling of bedrock brecciation by ice segregation in permafrost.. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 12(3), 255-266. doi:10.1002/ppp.390
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J. (2001). Thermokarst sediments and sedimentary structures, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, western Arctic Canada. Global and Planetary Change, 28(1-4), 175-192. doi:10.1016/S0921-8181(00)00072-2
Article. View on figshare.

2000

Harris, C., Murton, J., & Davies, M. C. R. (2000). Soft-sediment deformation during thawing of ice-rich frozen soils: Results of scaled centrifuge modelling experiments. Sedimentology, 47(3), 687-700. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3091.2000.00322.x
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J., Worsley, P., & Gozdzik, J. (2000). Sand veins and wedges in cold aeolian environments. Quaternary Science Reviews, 19(9), 899-922. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(99)00045-1
Article. View on figshare.

1996

Murton, J. (1996). Near-surface brecciation of chalk, isle of thanet, south-east England: a comparison with ice-rich brecciated bedrocks in Canada and Spitsbergen. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 7(2), 153-164. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1530(199604)7:2<153::AID-PPP215>3.0.CO;2-7
Article. View on figshare.
Murton, J. (1996). Thermokarst-lake-basin sediments, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, western arctic Canada. Sedimentology, 43(4), 737-760. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.1996.tb02023.x
Article. View on figshare.

1994

Murton, J., & French, H. M. (1994). Cryostructures in permafrost Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Western Artic Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 31(4), 737-747. doi:10.1139/e94-067
Article. View on figshare.

1993

Murton, J., & French, H. M. (1993). Thermokarst involutions, Summer Island, Pleistocene Mackenzie Delta, western Canadian Artic. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 4, 217-229. doi:10.1002/ppp.3430040304
Article. View on figshare.