Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost
International audience In high mountain areas, permafrost is important because it influences natural hazards and construction practices, and because it is an indicator of climate change. The modeling of its distribution and evolution over time is complicated by steep and complex topography, highly v...
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-00298540v1 2023-11-12T04:24:30+01:00 Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost Noetzli, J. Gruber, S. Glaciology Geomorphodynamics & Geochronology 2008-04-02 https://hal.science/hal-00298540 https://hal.science/hal-00298540/document https://hal.science/hal-00298540/file/tcd-2-185-2008.pdf en eng HAL CCSD Copernicus hal-00298540 https://hal.science/hal-00298540 https://hal.science/hal-00298540/document https://hal.science/hal-00298540/file/tcd-2-185-2008.pdf info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1994-0432 EISSN: 1994-0440 The Cryosphere Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00298540 The Cryosphere Discussions, 2008, 2 (2), pp.185-224 [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2008 ftccsdartic 2023-10-21T23:15:03Z International audience In high mountain areas, permafrost is important because it influences natural hazards and construction practices, and because it is an indicator of climate change. The modeling of its distribution and evolution over time is complicated by steep and complex topography, highly variable conditions at and below the surface, and varying climatic conditions. This paper presents a systematic investigation of effects of climate variability and topography that are important for subsurface temperatures in Alpine permafrost areas. The effects of both past and projected future ground surface temperature variations on the thermal state of Alpine permafrost are studied based on numerical experimentation with simplified mountain topography. For this purpose, we use a surface energy balance model together with a subsurface heat conduction scheme. The past climate variations that essentially influence the present-day permafrost temperatures at depth are the last glacial period and the major fluctuations in the past millennium. The influence of projected future warming was assessed to cause even larger transient effects in the subsurface thermal field because warming occurs on shorter time scales. Results further demonstrate the accelerating influence of multi-lateral warming in Alpine topography for a temperature signal entering the subsurface. The effects of thermal properties, porosity, and freezing characteristics were examined in sensitivity studies. A considerable influence of latent heat due to water in low-porosity bedrock was only shown for simulations over shorter time periods (i.e., decades to centuries). Finally, as an example of a real and complex topography, the modeled transient three-dimensional temperature distribution in the Matterhorn (Switzerland) is given for today and in 200 years. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences Noetzli, J. Gruber, S. Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost |
topic_facet |
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
description |
International audience In high mountain areas, permafrost is important because it influences natural hazards and construction practices, and because it is an indicator of climate change. The modeling of its distribution and evolution over time is complicated by steep and complex topography, highly variable conditions at and below the surface, and varying climatic conditions. This paper presents a systematic investigation of effects of climate variability and topography that are important for subsurface temperatures in Alpine permafrost areas. The effects of both past and projected future ground surface temperature variations on the thermal state of Alpine permafrost are studied based on numerical experimentation with simplified mountain topography. For this purpose, we use a surface energy balance model together with a subsurface heat conduction scheme. The past climate variations that essentially influence the present-day permafrost temperatures at depth are the last glacial period and the major fluctuations in the past millennium. The influence of projected future warming was assessed to cause even larger transient effects in the subsurface thermal field because warming occurs on shorter time scales. Results further demonstrate the accelerating influence of multi-lateral warming in Alpine topography for a temperature signal entering the subsurface. The effects of thermal properties, porosity, and freezing characteristics were examined in sensitivity studies. A considerable influence of latent heat due to water in low-porosity bedrock was only shown for simulations over shorter time periods (i.e., decades to centuries). Finally, as an example of a real and complex topography, the modeled transient three-dimensional temperature distribution in the Matterhorn (Switzerland) is given for today and in 200 years. |
author2 |
Glaciology Geomorphodynamics & Geochronology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Noetzli, J. Gruber, S. |
author_facet |
Noetzli, J. Gruber, S. |
author_sort |
Noetzli, J. |
title |
Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost |
title_short |
Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost |
title_full |
Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost |
title_fullStr |
Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost |
title_full_unstemmed |
Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost |
title_sort |
transient thermal effects in alpine permafrost |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00298540 https://hal.science/hal-00298540/document https://hal.science/hal-00298540/file/tcd-2-185-2008.pdf |
genre |
permafrost The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions |
genre_facet |
permafrost The Cryosphere The Cryosphere Discussions |
op_source |
ISSN: 1994-0432 EISSN: 1994-0440 The Cryosphere Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00298540 The Cryosphere Discussions, 2008, 2 (2), pp.185-224 |
op_relation |
hal-00298540 https://hal.science/hal-00298540 https://hal.science/hal-00298540/document https://hal.science/hal-00298540/file/tcd-2-185-2008.pdf |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1782338970835746816 |