TERRITORIAL DISINTEGRATIONS

Stabilization Through Disturbance In Wrangell Saint Elias

STUDIO: EIDETIC VOCABULARIES

ADVISOR: ANDREW MADL

Individual Project Spring 2020

The Alaskan wilderness of Wrangell St Elias is being threatened by climate change at a rate far more concerning than most other places in the United States. Permafrost stabilizes mountain slopes keeping one of the largest mountains ranges in the world inert. As termperatures warm, this permafrost is being degraded, resulting in destabilized mountains and massive landslides. This project proposes simulated annealing as a concept through which Wrangell St Elias can be temporarily destabilized in order to anticipate the future of the landscape.

Simulated annealing is a theorem used in machine learning algorithms which proposes adding a large amount of initial chaos into a system, followed by a targeted tempering period. This process allows a system to reach its most stable state of equillibria in an accelerated manner. Using simulated annealing as a framework, Wrangell St Elias will be heavily disturbed by initiating landslides inevitable in high risk areas. This will be followed by a tempered introduction of north bound plant and animal species. Together, this will cause a period of violent change and territorial level disintegrations to be followed with a stable ecosystem to welcome future climate refugees.