Paleotemperature Reconstruction for Freeze-Thaw Processes During the Late Pleistocene Through the Holocene

• Main Authors: Romanovsky, V. E., Maximova, L. N., Seregina, N. V.
• Other Authors: MOSCOW STATE UNIV (USSR) DEPT OF GEOLOGY
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1992
• Subjects: Geography; Meteorology; Geology; Geochemistry and Mineralogy; *CLIMATE; *HARMONIC ANALYSIS; *SURFACE TEMPERATURE; ADDITION; AGREEMENTS; AMPLITUDE; COMPUTERS; CYCLES; DISTRIBUTION; FREEZING; GLOBAL; HARMONICS; HEMISPHERES; HIGH LATITUDES; MODELS; REGIONS; SIMULATION; SURFACES; TEMPERATURE; THEORY; USSR; VALUE; VARIATIONS; PERMAFROST; GLACIERS; ARCTIC REGIONS; SYMPOSIA; Component Reports; *Paleotemperature reconstruction; *Freeze-thaw processes; *Pleistocene; *Holocene; *Milankovitch global climate-change theory; Prehistoric; Arctic; Fairbanks; Climate change; glaciers; Ice; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP007336; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADP007336

Variations in ground surface temperatures for different regions of the USSR were studied using the basic principles of Milankovitch global climate-change theory and harmonic analysis with cycle periods of 200, 100, 41, 21, and 11 thousand years (ka). The amplitude of these cycles has been calculated based on the following assumptions: (1) Climatic rhythms are represented as sinusoidal variations of temperature with periods of 200 (T), 100 (T 1), 41 (T2), 21 (T3) and 11 (T4) ka. (2) Minima of harmonics T1 and T2 occurred between 25 and 26 ka ago, while minima of period T3 occurred between 22 and 23 ka ago; in addition, maxima of periods TI and T4 were 5 ka ago. (3) Northern hemisphere deviations from present day temperatures during the last cold epoch were up to 9 deg C in high latitudes, ice-free areas and 5 deg C for lower latitudes; during the last warm epoch, these values were 4 and 2 deg C, respectively. Harmonics T2, T3 and T4 were combined in an attempt to refine the paleotemperature variations in different regions of the USSR from the late Pleistocene to the present. This long-term model is tested with a series of computer simulations of perennial freezing that show good agreement with reconstructions of paleopermafrost distribution and with its present vertical structure. This article is from 'Proceedings of the International Conference on the Role of the Polar Regions in Global Change Held in Fairbanks, Alaska on 11-15 June 990. Volume 2', AD-A253 028, p537-542. See also Volume 1, AD-A253 027.