Climatic relationships of permafrost zones in areas of low winter snow-cover
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1981/28/22Keywords:
freezing index, thawing index, ice under peatbogs, MAATAbstract
In areas with under 50 cm snow cover in winter, the permafrost zones are defined by the freezing indices and thawing indices. The warmer boundary of the zone of continuous permafrost traverses the mean annual air temperature (MAAT). The boundary between discontinuous and sporadic permafrost lies just on the cold side of 0°C MAAT. The sporadic permafrost zone includes the zone of ice caves and the regions with patches of ice beneath ponds and peatbogs, out to 5°C MAAT at a thawing index of 4000 degree days per year. The relationship works for Norway, Iceland, Spitsbergen, Canada and the People's Republic of Mongolia.
There are some marked variations in lapse rate from one environment to another. The most marked one occurs above tree line where the lapse rate increased markedly in winter, though not in summer. This produces a change in MAAT of 2.5°C on Plateau Mountain. The changes also occur at some points in non-permafrost areas and it appears Iikely that they are due to spatial and seasonal changes in albedo. Whatever the cause, the variations in lapse rate indicate that calculations of past world climatic change based on data from one area will be difficult.
References
Ahman, R., 1977 - Palsar i Nord Norge. Medd. Lunds Univ. Geogr. Inst. Avhand., 78; 165pp.
Angström, A., 1916 - Über die Gegenstrahlung der Atmosphäre. Meteor. Ztschr., 33; p. 529-538.
Black, R. F., 1951 - Permafrost. Smithsonian Inst. Rept., 1950; p. 273-301.
Brown, R. J. E., 1960 - The distribution of permafrost and its relation to air temperature in Canada and the U.S.S.R. Arctic, 13; p. 163-177.
Brown, R. J. E., 1967a - Permafrost in Canada. Geol. Surv. Canada, Map 1246A; Div. Build. Res., N.R.C. of Canada, Publ. 9769.
Brown, R. J. E., 1967b - Permafrost investigations in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. Build. Res. Div., N.R.C., Ottawa, Tech. Paper 253; 55 pp.
Brown, R. J. E., 1973 - Influence of climatic and terrain factors on ground temperatures at three locations in the permafrost region of Canada. In: Permafrost. The North Amer. Contribution to the Second Inter. Conf. on Permafrost, Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington; p. 27-34.
Brown, R. J. E., 1975 - Permafrost investigations in Quebec and Newfoundland. Div. Build. Res., N.R.C., Ottawa, Tech. Paper 449; 36 pp.
Brown, R. J. E., Péwé, T. L., 1973 - Distribution of permafrost in North America and its relationship to the environment, a review, 1963-1973. In: Permafrost. The North Amer. Contribution to the Second Inter. Conf. on Permafrost, Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington; p. 71-100.
Crampton, C. B., 1977 - Changes in permafrost distribution in northeastern British Columbia. Arctic, 30; p. 61-62.
Crampton, C. B., 1978 - The distribution and thickness of icy permafrost in northeastern British Columbia. Can. Jour. Earth Sci., 15; p. 655-659.
Ferrians, O. J. Jr., Hobson, G. D., 1973 - Mapping and predicting permafrost in North America, a review, 1963-1973. In: Permafrost. The North Amer. Contrib. to the Second Inter. Conf. on Permafrost, Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington; p. 479-498.
Fuji, Y., Higuchi, K., 1976 - Ground temperature and its relation to permafrost occurrences in the Kimbu Himal and Hidden Valley, Nepal Himalayas. Seppyo, 38; Special Issue (Glaciers and climates of Nepal Himalayas - Report of the Glaciological Expedition to Nepal); p.125-128.
Gavrilova, M. H., 1978 - Climatic (heat balance) factors governing formation of permafrost in the Mongolian People's Republic. U.S.S.R. Contrib., Permafrost, Second Inter. Conf., Nat. Acad. Sci., Translations, Washington; p. 35-37.
Gravis, G. F., Zabololnik, S. I., Lisun, A. M., Sukhodrovskii, V. L., 1978 - The geocryological characteristics of the Mongolian People's Republic and some characteristics of permafrost development in the past. U.S.S.R. Contrib., Permafrost, Second Inter. Conf., Nat. Acad. Sci. Translations, Washington; p. 81-86.
Harris, S. A., 1979 - Ice caves and permafrost zones in south-west Alberta. Erdkunde; p. 61-70.
Harris, S. A., Brown, R. J. E., 1978 - Plateau Mountain: A case study of alpine permafrost in the Rocky Mountains. In: Proc. Third Inter. Conf. Permafrost; Edmonton; p. 385-391.
Jahn, A., 1976 - Contemporaneous geomorphological processes in Lóngyeardalen, Vestispitsbergen (Svalbard). Biul. Peryglac., 26; p. 253-268.
Kaiser, K., 1960 - Klimazeugen des periglazialen Dauerfrostbodens in Mittel und Westeuropa. Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart; 11; p. 121-141.
Krinsley, D. B., 1963 - Influence of snow cover on frost penetration. U.S.G.S. Prof. Paper 475-B. Washington; p. B144-B147.
Nichols, D. R., 1956 - Permafrost and ground-water conditions in the Glennallen area, Alaska. Manuscript on open file. U.S.G.S., Washington and Anchorage and College Alaska.
Nicholson, F. H., 1976 - Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec. Can. J. Earth Sci., 13; p. 1694-1705.
Nicholson, F. H., 1978a - Permafrost modification by changing the natural energy budget. In: Proc. Third Inter. Conf. on Permafrost, Edmonton, Alberta, 1; p. 61-67.
Nicholson, F. H., 1978b - Permafrost distribution and characteristics near Schefferville, Quebec: Recent studies. In: Proc. Third Inter. Conf. on Permafrost, Edmonton, Alberta, 1; p. 427-433.
Norske Meteorologiske Institutt, 1963-74 - Norske Meteorologiske Årbok. Kommisjon Hos H. Aschehoug and Co. A/S, Oslo.
Péwé, T. L., 1966 - Permafrost and its effect on life in the north. Oregon State U. Press, Cornwallis, Ore.; 40 p.
Pihalainen, J. A., 1962 - An approximation of probable permafrost occurrence. Arctic, 15; p.151-154.
Priesnitz, K., Schunke E., 1978 - An approach to the ecology of permafrost in Central Iceland. In: Proc. Third Inter. Conf. on Permafrost, Edmonton, Alberta, 1; p. 473-479.
Reduzobov, D. B., 1954 - Thermal field laws of the permafrost in the Vorkuta region. Trudy Instituta merzlotovedeniia Im. V. A. Obrucheva, Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1 (1946). Translated by Leonid Stambulsheik and Jaroslav Jan Peel, SIPRE, Trans. 17.
Sanger, F. J., 1966 - Degree-days and heat conduction in soils. In: Permafrost: Proc. Inter. Conf. Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington; p. 253-262.
Smith, M. H., 1975 - Microclimatic influences on ground temperatures and permafrost distribution, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories. Can. J. Earth Sci., 12; p. 1421-1438.
Thompson, H. A., 1966 - Air temperature in northern Canada with emphasis on freezing and thawing indexes. In: Permafrost: Proc. Inter. Conf. Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington; p. 272-280.
Troll, C., 1943 - Die Frostwechselhäufigkeit in den Luft- und Bodenklimaten der Erde. Meteor. Zeitschr. 60; p. 161-171.
Washburn, A. L., 1973 - Periglacial Processes and Environments. E. Arnold Ltd., London, 320 p.
Zoltai, S. C., 1971 - Southern limit of permafrost features in peat landforms, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Geol. Assoc. Can. Spec. Paper 9; p. 305-310.
