Short Communication Buffering of Sublimation Loss of Subsurface Ice by Percolating Snowmelt: A Theoretical Analysis

• Main Author: Norbert Schorghofer
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: KEY WORDS; Antarctic Dry Valleys; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.513.7977; http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~norb1/Papers/2009-percolation.pdf

Subsurface ice in cold hyperarid conditions retreats by sublimation and diffusion through the overlying soil layer. Here, it is shown that percolating meltwater, if present, can counterbalance sublimation loss effectively and thus increase the persistence time of subsurface ice. Time averaging of transport equations is used to evaluate the significance of percolation in an otherwise complex dynamical system. The reduction in sublimation loss is approximately given by the amount of meltwater multiplied by the percolation depth and divided by the depth to the ice table. It is plausible that percolation is even more effective during a warmer, wetter climate. Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.