The Effects of Microrelief Forms on Seasonal Thawing

• Main Author: Tumel,N. V.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1970
• Subjects: Soil Mechanics; (*TERRAIN; MELTING); SNOW; PLANTS(BOTANY); SOILS; LICHENS; MOISTURE; USSR; *FREEZING; *SOILS; TRANSLATIONS; TUNDRA; Tundra
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0715047; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0715047

The observations made during the summer of the nature of the seasonal thawing in the Bol'shezemel'skaya Tundra indicated that the thawing dynamics depend greatly on the microrelief forms. As is known, the large polygonal forms (blocks) of this region often are sectors of variegated tundra. The latter is typified by the presence of soil patches, surrounded by a border of hummocks. In the origination and development of these forms, a significant role is played by the freezing processes, particularly the seasonal freezing and thawing, which has been recorded by many researchers having been concerned with a study of the maculate microrelief of tundras. In the reports of some authors, the main attention was devoted to these processes. (Author) Trans. of mono. Vaprosy Geograficheskogo Merzlotovedeniya i Periglyatsyalnoi Morfologii (Problems of Geographic Permafrostology and Periglacial Morphology), Moscow, 1961 p52-58.