The structure of the snow thickness on the Kola Peninsula
In 2016–2019, the structure of the snow thickness in the northern and central parts of the Kola Peninsula (from the Barents Sea to the Khibiny Mountains) was studied in tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, high–altitude Arctic and other landscapes during the periods of maximum recrystallization of the snow...
| Published in: | Ice and Snow |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
IGRAS
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ice-snow.igras.ru/jour/article/view/914 https://doi.org/10.31857/S2076673421030097 |
| Summary: | In 2016–2019, the structure of the snow thickness in the northern and central parts of the Kola Peninsula (from the Barents Sea to the Khibiny Mountains) was studied in tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, high–altitude Arctic and other landscapes during the periods of maximum recrystallization of the snow (February–April) and initial snow accumulation (October). 37 borings were made in the snow thicknesses. 399 snow layers of different ages and genesis were examined. In the total, 399 measurements of the density, porosity, structure of snow (size and shape of ice crystals) and texture (orientation of crystals and pores) of snow layers, 413 measurements of temperature at the contacts between snow layers, 46 measurements of the temporary resistance of the layer to rupture, 27 measurements of the time resistance to compression, 119 measurements of the resistance of the snow layer to horizontal sounding (with a cross-shaped tip that allows taking into account the anisotropy of the snow layer) were performed. The percentage of crystals of different classes of shapes in the layer was determined. It was found that the Kola Peninsula has a high rate of evolution of the snow thickness. Even in multi-snow winters (including the landscapes of high-altitude Arctic deserts in Khibiny and Monche-tundra) in March, up to 90% of the snow thickness is made up of snow layers with a columnar and fibrous texture, composed of ice crystals of semi-skeletal and skeletal classes of shapes with a diameters of up to 4 mm. These patterns of the evolution are typical for the Arctic and Subarctic (confirmed by studies on the Yamal Peninsula, in the lower reaches of the Northern Dvina River and in Karelia). Values of the strength characteristics of the snow layer (time resistance to rupture, resistance to compression, and to horizontal sounding with regard for the anisotropy of the snow layer texture) are the lower, the higher the content of crystals in the layer of the highest stages of evolution (skeletal) and the more developed the texture of ... |
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