Abstracts for the 5th International GAME Conf.
3-5 October 2001
Aichi Trade Center
Nagoya Japan
THE THERMAL STATE OF SOILS IN NORTHERN PRILENSKY PLATEAU
Skachkov Yuri Borisovich (1), Skryabin Pavel Nickolaevich (1), Varlamov Stepan Prokopievich (1)
(1) Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
The soils in the layer of annual heat exchange are the subject of our investigations carried out in the northern part of the Prilensky Plateau, 120-145 km of Yakutsk. Research includes studies of permafrost landscapes, heat exchange between the ground surface and the atmosphere, thermal properties and temperature of soils.
The study area is divided into two physiographic regions where 4 terrain types and 15 stow groups have been identified.
Snow depth is 1.3-1.6 times greater and mean annual air temperature is 0.3-2.4C higher in the Prilensky Plateau compared to the Central-Yakutian plain. In the annual cycle, the ground surface temperature is 1.8C lower than the air temperature because of high elevation and increased cloudiness in the summer.
The investigations established relationships between mean annual ground temperature and topographic setting. Greatest ground temperature variations are associated with south-facing slopes. Here the steep slopes have higher temperatures because of the greater amount of adsorbed radiation. The gentle slopes with a thick surface cover are characterized by lower ground temperatures. On west-facing slopes with uniform environmental conditions, ground temperature does not vary much from the water divide down to the foot. The mean annual ground temperature on the Prilensky Plateau increases with increasing altitude (from -4.0 to -0.5C).
The depth of seasonal thawing is normally 0.9 to 1.6 m. In disturbed areas at different stages of vegetation and surface-cover recovery (old clear-cuts, burns) the ground temperature is slightly higher (by 0.4-0.7C) and the depth of seasonal thawing is greater (by 0.3-0.8 m) than in undisturbed areas.
Submittal Information
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Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences | |
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Yakutsk-10, Russia 677010 | |
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