Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state
Abstract Mineral soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica, are commonly considered to be dry, and therefore to be good insulators with low thermal diffusivity values (~0.2 mm 2 s -1 ). However, field measurements of soil moisture profiles with depth, coupled with observations of rapid grou...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102016000201 2024-03-03T08:39:16+00:00 Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state Levy, Joseph S. Schmidt, Logan M. 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102016000201 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102016000201 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 28, issue 5, page 361-370 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 2016 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102016000201 2024-02-08T08:34:32Z Abstract Mineral soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica, are commonly considered to be dry, and therefore to be good insulators with low thermal diffusivity values (~0.2 mm 2 s -1 ). However, field measurements of soil moisture profiles with depth, coupled with observations of rapid ground ice melt, suggest that the thermal characteristics of MDV soils, and thus their resistance to thaw, may be spatially variable and strongly controlled by soil moisture content. The thermal conductivity, heat capacity and thermal diffusivity of 17 MDV soils were measured over a range of soil moisture conditions from dry to saturated. We found that thermal diffusivity varied by a factor of eight for these soils, despite the fact that they consist of members of only two soil groups. The thermal diffusivity of the soils increased in all cases with increasing soil moisture content, suggesting that permafrost and ground ice thaw in mineral soils may generate a positive thawing feedback in which wet soils conduct additional heat to depth, enhancing rates of permafrost thaw and thermokarst formation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Ice McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost Thermokarst Cambridge University Press Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys Antarctic Science 28 5 361 370 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Levy, Joseph S. Schmidt, Logan M. Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Abstract Mineral soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica, are commonly considered to be dry, and therefore to be good insulators with low thermal diffusivity values (~0.2 mm 2 s -1 ). However, field measurements of soil moisture profiles with depth, coupled with observations of rapid ground ice melt, suggest that the thermal characteristics of MDV soils, and thus their resistance to thaw, may be spatially variable and strongly controlled by soil moisture content. The thermal conductivity, heat capacity and thermal diffusivity of 17 MDV soils were measured over a range of soil moisture conditions from dry to saturated. We found that thermal diffusivity varied by a factor of eight for these soils, despite the fact that they consist of members of only two soil groups. The thermal diffusivity of the soils increased in all cases with increasing soil moisture content, suggesting that permafrost and ground ice thaw in mineral soils may generate a positive thawing feedback in which wet soils conduct additional heat to depth, enhancing rates of permafrost thaw and thermokarst formation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Levy, Joseph S. Schmidt, Logan M. |
author_facet |
Levy, Joseph S. Schmidt, Logan M. |
author_sort |
Levy, Joseph S. |
title |
Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state |
title_short |
Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state |
title_full |
Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state |
title_fullStr |
Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thermal properties of Antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state |
title_sort |
thermal properties of antarctic soils: wetting controls subsurface thermal state |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102016000201 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102016000201 |
geographic |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Ice McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost Thermokarst |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Ice McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost Thermokarst |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 28, issue 5, page 361-370 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102016000201 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
361 |
op_container_end_page |
370 |
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1792494714656653312 |