Warming permafrost in European mountains

Harris, Charles; Mühll, Daniel Vonder; Isaksen, Ketil; Haeberli, Wilfried; Sollid, Johan Ludvig; King, Lorenz; Holmlund, Per; Dramis, F.; Guglielmin, Mauro; Palacios, David

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2003.04.001

Cited by 219 publications

(182 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…All three boreholes show significant warm-side deviations in their thermal profiles down to 70 m depth, which are most likely associated with surface warming during the past decades, with the largest change occurring in the northernmost borehole in Svalbard (cf. Harris et al, 2003;Isaksen et al, 2001). Apart from the absence of any alternative reason for the warming, the similarity of the two thermal profiles from Tarfalaryggen and Juvvasshøe suggest a common cause, that is, warming of the upper permafrost surface (Isaksen et al, 2007b).…”

Section: Thermal Snapshot Of East Greenlandmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…A brief description of the thermal profiles from all three Nordic PACE boreholes was presented by Isaksen et al (2001), and was later compared with all the boreholes in the European PACE permafrost network (Harris et al, 2003(Harris et al, , 2009. Although derivation of climate signals from temperature profiles in mountain permafrost is complicated by three-dimensional effects (e.g.…”

Section: Thermal Snapshot Of East Greenlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The thermal state of permafrost in the nordic area during the international polar year 2007–2009

Christiansen

Etzelmüller

Isaksen

et al. 2010

Permafrost & Periglacial

297

256

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This paper provides a snapshot of the permafrost thermal state in the Nordic area obtained during the International Polar Year (IPY) [2007][2008][2009]. Several intensive research campaigns were undertaken within a variety of projects in the Nordic countries to obtain this snapshot. We demonstrate for Scandinavia that both lowland permafrost in palsas and peat plateaus, and large areas of permafrost in the mountains are at temperatures close to 08C, which makes them sensitive to climatic changes. In Svalbard and northeast Greenland, and also in the highest parts of the mountains in the rest of the Nordic area, the permafrost is somewhat colder, but still only a few degrees below the freezing point. The observations presented from the network of boreholes, more than half of which were established during the IPY, provide an important baseline to assess how future predicted climatic changes may affect the permafrost thermal state in the Nordic area. Time series of active-layer thickness and permafrost temperature conditions in the Nordic area, which are generally only 10 years in length, show generally increasing active-layer depths and rising permafrost temperatures.

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Section: Thermal Snapshot Of East Greenlandmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Thermal Snapshot Of East Greenlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

The thermal state of permafrost in the nordic area during the international polar year 2007–2009

Christiansen

Etzelmüller

Isaksen

et al. 2010

Permafrost & Periglacial

297

256

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With the purpose of detecting this limit, increasing number of boreholes and shallow drillings are recently been established for monitoring permafrost and active layer dynamics in mid-latitude mountain regions as well as in polar environments (e.g. Harris et al, 2003;Haeberli et al, 2010;Romanovsky et al, 2010). Also, two international programmes (Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost and Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring System), led by the International Permafrost Association, have been implemented in order to establish protocols to monitor permafrost and active layer parameters worldwide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of frozen ground conditions along a coastal topographic gradient at Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, Antarctica) by geophysical and geoecological methods

Correia

Oliva

Fernández

2017

CATENA

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Geophysical surveying and geoelectrical methods are effective to study permafrost distribution and conditions in polar environments. Geoelectrical methods are particularly suited to study the spatial distribution of permafrost because of its high electrical resistivity in comparison with that of soil or rock above 0°C. In the South Shetland Islands permafrost is considered to be discontinuous up to elevations of 20-40 m a.s.l., changing to continuous at higher altitudes. There are no specific data about the distribution of permafrost in Byers Peninsula, in Livingston Island, which is the largest ice-free area in the South Shetland Islands. With the purpose of better understanding the occurrence of permanent frozen conditions in this area, a geophysical survey using an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) methodology was conducted during the January 2015 field season, combined with geomorphological and ecological studies. Three overlapping electrical resistivity tomographies of 78 m each were done along the same profile which ran from the coast to the highest raised beaches. The three electrical resistivity tomographies are combined in an electrical resistivity model which represents the distribution of the electrical resistivity of the ground to depths of about 13 m along 158 m. Several patches of high electrical resistivity were found, and interpreted as patches of sporadic permafrost. The lower limits of sporadic to discontinuous permafrost in the area are confirmed by the presence of permafrost-related landforms nearby. There is a close correspondence between moss patches and permafrost patches along the geoelectrical transect.

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“…Permafrost is defined as ground which remains at or below 0°C for at least two consecutive years (Harris et al 2003). Although the environmental conditions suitable for permafrost exist in most mountainous regions of sufficient elevation (Travassos et al 2008;Viviroli et al 2011), present understanding of Andean permafrost distribution and resilience is limited (Azócar and Brenning 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Future climate warming and changes to mountain permafrost in the Bolivian Andes

et al. 2016

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Water resources in many of the world's arid mountain ranges are threatened by climate change, and in parts of the South American Andes this is exacerbated by glacier recession and population growth. Alternative sources of water, such as more resilient permafrost features (e.g. rock glaciers), are expected to become increasingly important as current warming continues. Assessments of current and future permafrost extent under climate change are not available for the Southern Hemisphere, yet are required to inform decision making over future water supply and climate change adaptation strategies. Here, downscaled model outputs were used to calculate the projected changes in permafrost extent for a first-order assessment of an example region, the Bolivian Andes. Using the 0°C mean annual air temperature as a proxy for permafrost extent, these projections show that permafrost areas will shrink from present day extent by up to 95 % under warming projected for the 2050s and by 99 % for the 2080s (under the IPCC A1B scenario, given equilibrium conditions). Using active rock glaciers as a proxy for the lower limit of permafrost extent, we also estimate that projected temperature changes would drive a near total loss of currently active rock glaciers in this region by the end of the century. In conjunction with glacier recession, a loss of permafrost extent of this magnitude represents a water security problem for the latter part of the 21st century, and it is likely that this will have negative effects on one of South America's fastest growing cities (La Paz), with similar implications for other arid mountain regions.

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Warming permafrost in European mountains

Cited by 219 publications

References 23 publications

The thermal state of permafrost in the nordic area during the international polar year 2007–2009

The thermal state of permafrost in the nordic area during the international polar year 2007–2009

Evaluation of frozen ground conditions along a coastal topographic gradient at Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, Antarctica) by geophysical and geoecological methods

Future climate warming and changes to mountain permafrost in the Bolivian Andes

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