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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-5331</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Dynamics of Coastal Permafrost Thaw Driven by Seawater Intrusion: A Numerical Study of Coupled Heat, Salt, and Groundwater Flow Processes</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zheng</surname>
<given-names>Tianyuan</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8948-064X</ext-link>
</name>
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<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Lin</surname>
<given-names>Yucheng</given-names>
</name>
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<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Gao</surname>
<given-names>Shaobo</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zheng</surname>
<given-names>Xilai</given-names>
</name>
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<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Helmig</surname>
<given-names>Rainer</given-names>
</name>
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<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Luo</surname>
<given-names>Jian</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China, Qingdao 266100, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Engineering Geology and the Environment, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems (IWS), Department of Hydromechanics and Modelling of Hydrosystems, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 61, Stuttgart, D-70569, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>19</day>
<month>10</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>45</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Tianyuan Zheng et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5331/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5331/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5331/egusphere-2026-5331.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5331/egusphere-2026-5331.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Global warming poses a growing threat to permafrost stability worldwide. Coastal permafrost is especially vulnerable because it is exposed to both rising ocean temperatures and seawater intrusion. However, the dynamic thermo-hydro-saline coupling mechanisms governing seawater intrusion-driven permafrost thaw remain poorly understood. This study employs a fully coupled groundwater (ice)-salt-heat numerical model to investigate these dynamics in a high-latitude coastal aquifer, with sensitivity analyses on seawater temperature, aquifer permeability, and porosity. Results identify seawater temperature (&lt;em&gt;T&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;s&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;) as the primary driver, with permafrost thaw volume increasing by ~105% as &lt;em&gt;T&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;s&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt; rises from 0.5 to 3.5 &amp;deg;C. The system evolves from an initial density-driven, clockwise saline circulation to a mature double-circulation pattern, including a thermally-driven counterclockwise cell. The onset of this double circulation occurs earlier at higher &lt;em&gt;T&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;s&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, fundamentally reshaping long-term heat transfer. The salt contribution degree (&lt;em&gt;CD&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;s&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &amp;lt; 0.5) confirms thermal forcing dominates thaw, while salinity modulates early-phase thawing. Aquifer properties strongly modulate thaw sensitivity: higher permeability accelerates heat and solute transport but promotes earlier counterclockwise circulation development, which can limit inland advance. These findings quantify the nonlinear response of coastal permafrost to ocean warming and provide a predictive framework for assessing carbon mobilization and geotechnical risks in vulnerable Arctic regions.</p>
</abstract>
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<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>National Natural Science Foundation of China</funding-source>
<award-id>42422207</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Taishan Scholar Foundation of Shandong Province</funding-source>
<award-id>tsqn202408078</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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