The rise of snow temperatures caused by the sewage disposal, Mizuho Station, Antarctica

• Main Author: Masayoshi Nakawo
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University 1985
• Subjects: Mizuho; Mizuho Station; Antarc*; Antarctica; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=1850; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00001850/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=1850&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Measurements of snow temperature distribution indicated that the temperature was considerably higher in the vicinity of the station than in the natural snow layers far from it. It was considered that the temperature rise was caused by the human activities at the station, in particular by the sewage discharge into the surface snow layer. A simple calculation of the temperature rise was compatible with the field data on the temperature distribution around the station. Vertical profiles of the snow temperature, obtained through shallow/medium depth boreholes, were discussed in terms of the artificial temperature rise.