New permafrost formed in peat hummocks (pounus), Finnish Lapland

Detailed measurements on a pounu (a small peat hummock) field in northernmost Finland (69°49′N) indicate that new permafrost has formed there since 1993. The maximum thickness of the permafrost layer so far is about 44 cm and it was slowly increasing in 1997. The importance of ground level temperatu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Matti Seppälä
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1530(199810/12)9:43.0.CO;2-Z
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Summary:Detailed measurements on a pounu (a small peat hummock) field in northernmost Finland (69°49′N) indicate that new permafrost has formed there since 1993. The maximum thickness of the permafrost layer so far is about 44 cm and it was slowly increasing in 1997. The importance of ground level temperature measurements in the assessment of permafrost growth and decay is stressed. The significance of these observations in the context of global change is discussed. They do not appear to support the notion of rapid warming of the climate in subarctic Finland. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Des mesures détaillées effectuées dans un champ de “pounus” (c’est‐à‐dire de petites buttes de tourbe) dans la Finlande extrême septentrionale (69°49′N) indiquent qu'un nouveau pergélisol s'est formé depuis 1993. L'épaisseur maximum de la couche de pergélisol est de 44 cm et a lentement augmenté en 1997. L'importance des mesures de températures dans l'estimation de la croissance et de la disparition du pergélisol est mise en évidence. La signification de ces observations dans le contexte du “Global Change” est discutée. Elles ne paraissent pas supporter la notion d'un réchauffement rapide du climat dans la Finlande subarctique. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.